introduction | calcineurin is the only calcium and calmodulin-dependent phosphoprotein phosphatase rich in mammalian brain. The enzyme (calcineurin,CaN) is also distributed in extracellular tissues such as sperm cells, lymphocytes and muscle tissues, but the content is far lower than that of the brain. CaN consists of a regulatory subunit bound by 18kDCa2 + and a catalytic subunit bound by 61kD calmodulin. In addition to binding to Ca2 +, the enzyme can also bind to metal ions such as Mn2 +, Ni2 +, Co2 + and affect its activity. |
source distribution | immunohistochemical localization shows that it is mainly distributed in striatum, hippocampus, cerebral cortex and other regions of the brain. in each brain region, various isozymes of CaN are expressed differently in specific neuron subsets. this regional expression of CaN may be related to the specificity of different calcineurin substrates. |
Biological activity | Calcineurin substrate are polypeptides from the cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulatory RII subunit. Calcineurin substrate can be used to determine the activity of calcineurin. |
in vitro research | Calcineurin (PP2B), a serine/threonine phosphatase controlled by cellular calcium, has been implicated in a wide variety of biological responses including lymphocyte activation, neuronal and muscle development, neurite outgrowth, and morphogenesis of vertebrate heart valves. |