Cai, Q., Zeng, M., Wu, X., Wu, H., Zhan, Y., Tian, R., & Zhang, M. (2021). Cell Research, 31(1), 37-51.

Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent kinase IIα (CaMKIIα) is essential for synaptic plasticity and learning by decoding synaptic Ca²⁺ oscillations. Despite decades of extensive research, new mechanisms underlying CaMKIIα’s function in synapses are still being discovered. Here, we discover that Shank3 is a specific binding partner for autoinhibited CaMKIIα. We demonstrate that Shank3 and GluN2B, via combined actions of Ca²⁺ and phosphatases, reciprocally bind to CaMKIIα. Under basal condition, CaMKIIα is recruited to the Shank3 subcompartment of postsynaptic density (PSD) via phase separation. Rise of Ca²⁺ concentration induces GluN2B-mediated recruitment of active CaMKIIα and formation of the CaMKIIα/GluN2B/PSD-95 condensates, which are autonomously dispersed upon Ca²⁺ removal. Protein phosphatases control the Ca²⁺-dependent shuttling of CaMKIIα between the two PSD subcompartments and PSD condensate formation. Activation of CaMKIIα further enlarges the PSD assembly and induces structural LTP. Thus, Ca²⁺-induced and phosphatase-checked shuttling of CaMKIIα between distinct PSD nano-domains can regulate phase separation-mediated PSD assembly and synaptic plasticity.

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