AKAPs: the architectural underpinnings of local cAMP signaling

The cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) is targeted to specific compartments in the cardiac myocyte by A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs), a diverse set of scaffold proteins that have been implicated in the regulation of excitation-contraction coupling and cardiac remodeling. AKAPs bind not only PKA, but also a large variety of structural and signaling molecules. In this review, we discuss the basic concepts underlying compartmentation of cAMP and PKA signaling, as well as a few of the individual AKAPs that have been shown to be functionally relevant in the heart. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Local Signaling in Myocytes".