KIS: synaptic plasticity's missing molecular link?

KIS, a kinase associated with microtubule regulators, enhances translation of AMPA receptors and stimulates dendritic spine remodeling.

Local regulation of protein synthesis allows a neuron to rapidly alter the proteome in response to synaptic signals, an essential mechanism in synaptic plasticity that is altered in many neurological diseases. Synthesis of many synaptic proteins is under local control and much of this regulation occurs through structures termed RNA granules. KIS is a protein kinase that associates with stathmin...

Protein kinase KIS localizes to RNA granules and enhances local translation.

The regulation of mRNA transport is a fundamental process for cytoplasmic sorting of transcripts and spatially controlled translational derepression once properly localized. There is growing evidence that translation is locally modulated as a result of specific synaptic inputs. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms that regulate this translational process are just emerging. We show that ...

Kismet Positively Regulates Glutamate Receptor Localization and Synaptic Transmission at the Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction

The Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a glutamatergic synapse that is structurally and functionally similar to mammalian glutamatergic synapses. These synapses can, as a result of changes in activity, alter the strength of their connections via processes that require chromatin remodeling and changes in gene expression. The chromodomain helicase DNA binding (CHD) protein, Kismet (Kis), ...

Psychological Therapies: The Missing Link in Improving Treatment Adherence in Patients with β-thalassemia Major

The Protein Kinase KIS Impacts Gene Expression during Development and Fear Conditioning in Adult Mice

The brain-enriched protein kinase KIS (product of the gene UHMK1) has been shown to phosphorylate the human splicing factor SF1 in vitro. This phosphorylation in turn favors the formation of a U2AF(65)-SF1-RNA complex which occurs at the 3' end of introns at an early stage of spliceosome assembly. Here, we analyzed the effects of KIS knockout on mouse SF1 phosphorylation, physiology, adult beha...