Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is involved in Ca2+signaling throughout the body. CaMKII is enriched in the hippocampus and required for learning and memory formation. Four highly conserved genes encode CaMKII in vertebrates: A, B, G, and D. All CaMKII variants are constituted of a kinase domain, regulatory segment, variable linker, and hub domain. These domains comprise an individual subunit which oligomerize together via the hub domain to form multimeric holoenzymes. These four genes are most variable in the linker domain due to extensive alternative splicing. The variable linker significantly impacts the activation of CaMKIIA. Herein, I attempt to develop an in vitro assay which resembles physiological activation of CaMKII via Ca2+ oscillations. I provide preliminary data which indicate that alternative splicing of the variable linker in CaMKIIA modulates the Ca2+ frequency dependent autonomy of these variants. Additionally, neuronal CaMKII variants of CaMKIIA and CaMKIIB decode Ca2+ oscillations into different levels of autonomous activity. Lastly, I assess the impacts of three de novo mutations (Q274P, R275H, and F294S) on Ca2+/CaM sensitivity in CaMKIID by providing data that these 3 mutants increase the sensitivity of CaMKIId to Ca2+/CaM and that Q274P and F294S mutants display Ca2+/CaM independent activity.

Oligodendrocytes are cells located in the central nervous system (CNS) that are responsible for the production of the lipid rich membrane, myelin. Myelin and the process of making and wrapping myelin around an axon (also known as myelination) are critical for normal development since they ensure proper signal conduction in the vertebrate CNS. The loss or damage of this myelin, which is typically associated with the demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS), is associated with improper axonal protection along with disrupted nerve signaling which can lead to a variety of different debilitating phenotypic responses. It has been shown that there are MS lesions in which oligodendrocyte progenitors are present. However, while these cells are thought to possess the intrinsic ability to myelinate, they do not efficiently mature and/or repair the myelin sheath within the MS lesion. The reasons for this block in differentiation are currently not fully understood. A critical and thorough understanding of oligodendrocyte ix development provides the foundation needed for future research to potentially provide therapeutic targets for stimulating proper maturation and efficient remyelination from the oligodendrocyte progenitors that are present within the MS brain. In the search for regulators of oligodendrocyte development and potential therapeutic targets, the data generated as part of my thesis provided evidence that CaMKII (more specifically CaMKIIβ) is a regulator of oligodendrocyte myelination and maturation. Using pharmacological inhibitors or siRNA-mediated knockdown of this protein resulted in improper formation of the oligodendrocyte process network. Interestingly, siRNA-mediated knockdown of CaMKIIβ appeared to play no noticeable role in the genetic regulation of specific oligodendrocyte developmental markers. Furthermore, an overall reduction of the thickness of the compact myelin was observed in the ventral spinal cord of CaMKIIβ knockout mice. These findings emphasize the importance of CaMKIIβ in oligodendrocyte myelination and maturation. To further investigate CaMKIIβ’s role in the regulation of CNS myelination, the effect of glutamate signaling on CaMKIIβ and in particular its actin binding site were assessed. These data showed that signaling via glutamate transporters promote an increase of process network in oligodendrocytes. This effect was associated with a transient increase in intracellular calcium concentration and a change in the phosphorylation of at least one serine residue present within CaMKIIβ’s actin binding site. Changes in phosphorylation of CaMKIIβ’s actin binding site suggested that CaMKIIβ detaches from filamentous F-actin and x allows for remodeling of the oligodendrocyte’s actin cytoskeleton. This was demonstrated by overexpressing CaMKIIβ actin binding mutant constructs to alter phosphorylation of serine residues to either always allow actin binding (CaMKIIβallA) or never allow actin binding (CaMKIIβallD). The overexpression of CaMKIIβallD alone demonstrated a decrease in the process network of oligodendrocytes and inhibited the effect of glutamate on the process network. In contrast, the overexpression of CaMKIIβallA and CaMKIIβWT alone showed normal process network formation along with a significant increase in the process network after stimulation of glutamate. The above data strongly suggest that there is a significant relationship between sodium dependent glutamate transporters/CaMKIIβ activation and the oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton in the role of regulation of oligodendrocyte differentiation and CNS myelination. The data presented in this dissertation provides overwhelming evidence that CaMKIIβ plays a significant role in the proper formation of the oligodendrocyte complex process network and myelination. CaMKIIβ’s relationship with glutamate and the actin cytoskeleton could lay the foundation for future research not only for the signaling of oligodendrocyte process formation and remyelination but also for future targets for MS therapies.

No description available.

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) is a widely expressed family of transcription factors that are involved in a diverse number of processes. These include inflammation or differentiation, survival or apoptosis, and proliferation or cell cycle arrest. NF-kB is usually associated with inhibitory kB proteins (IkB), which mask the nuclear localisation sequence (NLS) of NF-kB and renders it in the cytoplasm. Various stimuli result in the activation of the I kappa B kinase (IKK) protein complex, which phosphorylates IκB proteins and thereby marks them for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Thereby NF-kB enters the nucleus and acts on its target genes. The study of T- and B-lymphocyte antigen receptor signalling to NF-kB is a field of intense investigation, with much attention being focused on the molecular scaffolding proteins Carma1, Bcl10 and MALT1 and their post-translational modifications. These have been shown to be crucial for the organization of the immunological synapse structure under the activated receptor, to which IKK is recruited and becomes activated, which subsequently leads to the activation of NF-kB. T cell receptor (TCR) activation results in a rapid increase in the intracellular Ca2+ level and NF-kB activation is known to be regulated by those increases, but the mechanisms have remained unclear. Calmodulin (CaM) is a calcium sensory protein that responds to increases in intracellular Ca2+ levels. When CaM binds Ca2+ ions, it leads to structural changes that directly as well as indirectly, through CaM dependent kinases (CaMKs), phosphatases and other enzymes, alters a variety of cellular processes, among them transcriptional regulation. Here CaM is shown to interact directly with Bcl10 in a Ca2+ dependent manner. Increases in the intracellular Ca2+ level are shown to induce the proximity of Bcl10 and CaM in vivo. Carma1 associates with Bcl10 through a CARD-CARD domain interaction that is known to be crucial for TCR signalling to NF-kB. The interaction of CaM with Bcl10 was mapped to the CARD domain and was shown to be a negative regulator for the Bcl10-Carma1 interaction. Inhibition of the CaM interaction by a point mutation within the CaM binding site of Bcl10 results in decreased binding of CaM to Bcl10 in vivo, as well as an increased ability of Bcl10 to induce NF-kB transcriptional activity, which is further enhanced by TCR activating stimuli. NF-kB activation is also shown here to be regulated by CaM indirectly through actions of CaMKII. The CaMKII is recruited to the immunological synapse where it interacts with Bcl10 in an inducible fashion and phosphorylates Bcl10. Phosphorylations of Bcl10 by CaMKII are shown to be important for the ability of Bcl10 to induce NF-κB transcriptional activity. Upon mutation of its most important CaMKII site, Bcl10 fails to activate an NF-kB reporter and an NF-kB target gene (IL-2). This mutated Bcl10 also fails to induce activating phosphorylations of IKKa/b and the kinase JNK2 but not JNK1. Furthermore, phosphorylation of Bcl10 by CaMKII regulates the interactions within the important Carma1, Bcl10, Malt1 signaling complex and the essential signal induced ubiquitinations of Bcl10 and IKKg. Phosphorylation of IKK by TAK1 is also regulated by CaMKII, and serine 82 is a putative CaMKII target site of TAK1 that appears to be important for IκBα degradation. In summary, this thesis explores that not only NF-kB but also CaM is a double-edged sword, since the multi-functional NF-kB family of transcription factors is regulated by CaM both negatively and positively.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Calcium/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a multimeric holoenzyme composed of 8–14 subunits from four closely related isoforms (α, β, γ, δ). CaMKII plays a strategic, multifunctional role in coupling the universal second messenger calcium with diverse cellular processes including metabolism, cell cycle control, and synaptic plasticity. CaMKII exhibits broad substrate specificity, targeting numerous substrates with diverse phosphorylation motifs. Binding of the calcium sensor CaM to the autoregulatory domain (ARD) of CaMKII functions to couple kinase activation with calcium signaling. Important sites of autophosphorylation, namely T287 and T306/7 (δ isoform numbering), reside within the ARD and control either CaM dependence or ability to bind to CaMKII respectively, thus determining various activation states of the kinase. Because autophosphorylation is critical to the function of CaMKII in vivo, we sought to determine the relationship between the activation state of the kinase and substrate selectivity. We show that the ARD of activated CaMKII tunes substrate selectivity by competing for substrate binding to the catalytic domain, thus functioning as a selectivity filter. Specifically, in the absence of T287 autophosphorylation, substrate phosphorylation is limited to high-affinity, consensus substrates. T287 autophosphorylation restores maximal kinase activation and broad substrate selectivity by disengaging ARD filtering. The unique multimeric architecture of CaMKII is an ideal sensor which encodes calcium-spike frequency into graded levels of subunit activation/autophosphorylation within the holoenzyme. We find that differential activation states of the holoenzyme produce distinct substrate phosphorylation profiles. Maximal holoenzyme activation/autophosphorylation leads to further broadening of substrate specificity beyond the effect of autophosphorylation alone, which is consistent with multivalent avidity. Thus, the ability of calcium-spike frequency to regulate T287 autophosphorylation and holoenzyme activation permits cellular activity to dictate switch-like behavior in substrate selectivity that is required for diverse cellular responses by CaMKII.

La maladie de Charcot-Marie-Tooth liée à l'X (CMTX), deuxième cause, en fréquence, de neuropathies héréditaire, est due à des mutations dans le gène Gjb1 codant pour la connexine 32. Afin de les utiliser comme modèle pré clinique, nous avons créé 5 lignées de souris transgéniques, ayant intégré un BAC humain portant une mutation observée dans plusieurs familles indépendantes. L'exploration de ces modèles a montré que la connexine 32 (Cx32) est impliquée dans le contrôle de la stabilité mitotique. Nous avons ensuite montré que cette instabilité implique l'activité des CaMKII et, peut être, de la kinase Pim1. Cette instabilité est corrigée par des inhibiteurs des CaMKII (KN62 et KN93). Nous avons retrouvé le même phénomène dans des cellules de malades CMTX. Nous avons également pu montrer que les animaux transgéniques montrent des anomalies du comportement locomoteur, corrigées par un traitement par des inhibiteurs de CaMKII. Finalement, nous proposons des pistes pour améliorer ces molécules, en synthétisant des analogues de KN93 / X-linked Charcot -Marie -Tooth (CMTX) disease, the second cause, in frequency, of hereditary neuropathies, is caused by mutations in the gene GJB1 encoding connexin 32. As a preclinical model, we created five lines of transgenic mice, which have integrated a human BAC contain mutation observed in several independent families. The exploration of models showed that the connexin 32 (Cx32) is involved in the control of mitotic stability. We then showed that this instability involves the activity of CaMKII and, perhaps, kinase Pim1. This instability is corrected by inhibitors of CaMKII (KN62 and KN93). We found the same phenomenon occuring in cells of CMTX patients. We also showed that transgenic animals show abnormal locomotor behavior corrected by treatment with inhibitors of CaMKII. Finally, we propose strategies to improve efficiency of these molecules by synthesizing analogues of KN93

Ankstesni tyrimai, susiję su laikinėmis sinapsinio efektyvumo pasikeitimo taisyklėmis per nuo veikimo potencialų poravimo priklausantį plastiškumą, praktiškai nekreipė jokio dėmesio į neuronų erdvines savybes. Mes nagrinėjame nuo kalcio/kalmodulino priklausančią kinazę II (CaMKII) ir kalcineuriną (CaN) artimuosiuose ir tolimuosiuose spygliuose bei jų įtaką ilgalaikei potenciacijai ir ilgalaikei depresijai. Tyrimų metu buvo atskleista, kad esant neigiamam veikimo potencialų laiko poravimui tolimoje sinapsėje gali vykti ilgalaikė potenciacija, tuo tarpu artimajame spyglyje visi procesai vyksta remiantis klasikinėmis sinapsinio plastiškumo taisyklėmis. Gauti rezultatai teigia, kad sinapsės vieta dendritiniame medyje yra lemiamas veiksnys nuo veikimo potencialų laikų poravimo priklausančiame sinapsiniame plastiškume. / Previous studies focusing on the temporal rules governing changes in synaptic efficacy during spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) have paid little attention to spatial characteristics of neurons. We analyze the activity of calcium-calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and phosphatase calcineurin (CaN) in proximal and distal spines and their impact on long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). During tests we found that at negative timing of action potentials in distal spine synapse can undergo LTP while in proximal spine the processes follow the classic STDP rules. Our results suggest that synapse location within the dendritic tree is a crucial determinant of STDP.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

<p>Apoptosis is a programmed form of cell death, essential for maintaining tissue homeostasis and eliminating dysfunctional cells. The process of apoptosis is executed by a family of cysteine proteases called caspases. High levels of metabolic activity confer resistance to apoptosis. Caspase-2, an apoptotic initiator, can be suppressed by high levels of nutrient flux through the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). This metabolic suppression of caspase-2 is exerted via the inhibitory phosphorylation of S135 on the caspase-2 prodomain by activated Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). However, it was unclear how CaMKII activity is regulated by nutrient flux.</p><p>After investigating how nutrient flux leads to activation of CaMKII, a recent study reported that coenzyme A (CoA) can directly bind to and activate CaMKII. However, by performing mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of CaMKII, and other biochemical assays, including gel filtration assays, immuno-precipitation assays, immuno-depletion assays, and in vitro kinase assays, in the Xenopus egg extract system, our studies show that the complete nutrient-driven CaMKII activation requires the additional release of a "brake" through the dephosphorylation of CaMKII at novel sites (T393/S395). Furthermore, this metabolically-stimulated dephosphorylation of CaMKII is mediated by the metabolic activation of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in complex with the B55&#946; targeting subunit. Importantly, our findings have been successfully replicated in human 293T cells, including the metabolic activation of CaMKII, and also the suppression of this activation by B55&#946; knockdown.</p><p>Our discovery represents a novel locus of CaMKII regulation and also provides a mechanism contributing to metabolic control of apoptosis. These findings may have implications for metabolic control of the many CaMKII-controlled and PP2A-regulated physiological processes, as both enzymes appear to be responsive to alterations in glucose metabolized via the PPP. Finally, our study reveals B55&#946; as a potential target for cancer therapy, because of its importance in suppressing metabolic suppression of caspase-2 activation and apoptosis.</p> / Dissertation