Structure and Regulation of Type II Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase in Central Nervous System Neurons

Abstract

ed that molecular biology (the study of gene expres-sion) and neurobiology are at similar stages. Both fields have identified many of the cast of important charac-ters, but we still have much to learn about mechanisms and algorithms. In molecular neurobiology, the "mech-anisms " are the ways that individual proteins work together to regulate release of transmitter or to mod-ulate receptors and ion channels. The "algorithms " are the ways that these mechanisms are coordinated to allow neurons to maintain homeostasis, while at the same time adapting to changes in the external environ-ment and storing information through molecular changes that alter the behavior of neural networks. In the last several years, the field of molecular neuro-biology has appropriately placed great emphasis on