Purkinje cell protein 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''PCP4'' gene. Also known as PEP-19, PCP4 is a 7.6 kDa protein with an IQ-motif that binds to

calmodulin Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bind ...

(CaM). PCP4 is abundant in Purkinje cells of the

cerebellum The cerebellum (Latin for "little brain") is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as or even larger. In humans, the cerebel ...

, and plays an important role in synaptic plasticity.

Function

PCP4

knockout mice A knockout mouse, or knock-out mouse, is a genetically modified mouse (''Mus musculus'') in which researchers have inactivated, or "knocked out", an existing gene by replacing it or disrupting it with an artificial piece of DNA. They are importan ...

have been reported to exhibit impaired locomotor learning and markedly altered synaptic plasticity in cerebellar

Purkinje neuron Purkinje cells, or Purkinje neurons, are a class of GABAergic inhibitory neurons located in the cerebellum. They are named after their discoverer, Czech people, Czech anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, who characterized the cells in 1839. Stru ...

s. PCP4 accelerates both the association and dissociation of calcium (Ca²⁺) with

(CaM), which is postulated to influence the activity of CaM-dependent enzymes, especially CaM kinase II ( CaMK-II).

Function

References

Further reading