Derangements of hippocampal calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in a mouse model for Angelman mental retardation syndrome

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a disorder of human cognition characterized by severe mental retardation and epilepsy. Recently, a mouse model for AS (Ube3a maternal null mutation) was developed that displays deficits in both context-dependent learning and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). In the present studies, we examined the molecular basis for these LTP and learning deficits. Mutant animals exhibited a significant increase in hippocampal phospho-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), specifically at sites Thr(286) and Thr(305), with no corresponding change in the levels of total CaMKII. In addition, mutants show a reduction in CaMKII activity, autophosphorylation capability, and total CaMKII associated with postsynaptic density. These findings are the first to implicate misregulation of CaMKII as a molecular cause for the neurobehavioral deficits in a human learning disorder.