Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
of phosphorylated α CaMKII was increased in spinal cord tissue, suggesting that α CaMKII
is involved in opioid tolerance or pain (Liang et al., 2004).
C
ONCLUDING
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EMARKS
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M
EMORY
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OLECULES AND
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EMORY
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PPARATUS
Recent developments in molecular biology, gene techniques, and cell biology have
helped shed light on synaptic plasticity and learning and memory at the molecular level. An
initial step may be studies of CaMKII in the nerve cells. Biochemical studies have
demonstrated that CaMKII has unique properties, including extremely broad substrate
specificity, self regulation, and translocation. Furthermore, genetic approaches using mice
have provided a great deal of information about the important roles that CaMKII plays in
various types of plasticity and learning and memory. The involvement of CaMKII in the
regulation of signaling in both pre- and post-synapses is shown in Fig. 2.
The exocytotic machinery is present in the presynaptic terminal. The PSD in the
postsynapse exhibit dramatic changes in structure and composition and the efficiency of
signal transduction during development and in response to synaptic activity. Various targets
of CaMKII have been identified (Table 2 and 3), and the association of some well
characterized molecules regulated by CaMKII in the synapse is shown in Fig. 2B.
Figure 2. (Continued on the next page).
