Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 24, 2025

Visualizing Protein Kinase A Activity In Head-fixed Behaving Mice Using In Vivo Two-photon Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
Published on: June 7, 2019
Role of A-Kinase Anchoring Protein 12 in the Central Nervous System
Shintaro Kimura1,2, Josephine Lok1,3, Irwin H Gelman4
1Neuroprotection Research Laboratory, Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract:
A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) 12 is a scaffolding protein that anchors various signaling proteins to the plasma membrane. These signaling proteins include protein kinase A, protein kinase C, protein phosphatase 2B, Src-family kinases, cyclins, and calmodulin, which regulate their respective signaling pathways. AKAP12 expression is observed in the neurons, astrocytes, endothelial cells, pericytes, and oligodendrocytes of the central nervous system (CNS). Its physiological roles include promoting the development of the blood-brain barrier, maintaining white-matter homeostasis, and even regulating complex cognitive functions such as long-term memory formation. Under pathological conditions, dysregulation of AKAP12 expression levels may be involved in the pathology of neurological diseases such as ischemic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease. This minireview aimed to summarize the current literature on the role of AKAP12 in the CNS.
Related Concept Videos
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase Pathways
Enzyme-linked Receptors
Neurotrophin (NT) receptors are a family of RTKs, including trkA, trkB, and trkC (tropomyosin-related kinase) receptors. TrkA is specific for nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin-6, and neurotrophin-7. TrkB binds...
Calmodulin-dependent Signaling
The Ca2+-CaM complex does not have enzymatic activity by itself. Instead, the complex binds downstream target proteins, including membrane proteins or enzymes,...
Cytoskeletal Linker Proteins - Plakins
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the...

