Derangements of hippocampal calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in a mouse model for Angelman mental retardation syndrome

J Neurosci. 2003 Apr 1;23(7):2634-44. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-07-02634.2003.

Abstract

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a disorder of human cognition characterized by severe mental retardation and epilepsy. Recently, a mouse model for AS (Ube3a maternal null mutation) was developed that displays deficits in both context-dependent learning and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). In the present studies, we examined the molecular basis for these LTP and learning deficits. Mutant animals exhibited a significant increase in hippocampal phospho-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), specifically at sites Thr(286) and Thr(305), with no corresponding change in the levels of total CaMKII. In addition, mutants show a reduction in CaMKII activity, autophosphorylation capability, and total CaMKII associated with postsynaptic density. These findings are the first to implicate misregulation of CaMKII as a molecular cause for the neurobehavioral deficits in a human learning disorder.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Angelman Syndrome / enzymology*
  • Angelman Syndrome / etiology
  • Angelman Syndrome / physiopathology
  • Animals
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / chemistry
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / immunology
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / metabolism*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Hippocampus / enzymology*
  • Hippocampus / physiology
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Intellectual Disability / enzymology*
  • Intellectual Disability / etiology
  • Intellectual Disability / physiopathology
  • Ligases / genetics
  • Long-Term Potentiation
  • Mice
  • Mutation
  • Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Synapses / enzymology
  • Threonine / metabolism
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Substances

  • Threonine
  • UBE3A protein, human
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
  • Protein Kinases
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases
  • Phosphoprotein Phosphatases
  • Ligases