ral ssBioMed CentBMC Neuroscience Open AccePoster presentation Spatiotemporal dynamics of calcium and calmodulin at the spine

Calcium levels in spines play a significant role in deter-mining the sign and magnitude of synaptic plasticity. Recent experiments using calcium sensitive dyes have allowed measurements of calcium transients in whole spines, however experimental resolution does not allow imaging of the spatial distribution of calcium within the spine [1,2,5]. Calcium can activate Calcineurin or bind to CaM and consequently activate CaMKII which is key mediator of synaptic plasticity. A main source of calcium influx into the spine is from the NMDA receptors. There are four different subtypes of obligatory NR2 subunits of NMDA receptors, NR2A/B/C/D. In the mature cortex the majority of the synaptic NMDA receptors are constituted by NR1/NR2A and in the immature cortex by NR1/NR2B. Experiments have shown that the subunit composition o