Synaptic dysfunction and dysregulation of Ca2+ are linked to neurodegenerative processes and behavioural disorders. Our understanding of the causes and factors involved in behavioural disorders and neurodegeneration, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD), a tau-related disease, is on the one hand limited and on the other hand controversial. Here, we review recent data about the links between the Ca2+-binding EF-hand-containing cytoskeletal protein Swiprosin-1/EFhd2 and neurodegeneration. Specifically, we summarize the functional biochemical data obtained in vitro with the use of recombinant EFhd2 protein, and integrated them with in vivo data in order to interpret the emerging role of EFhd2 in synaptic plasticity and in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders, particularly involving the tauopathies. We also discuss its functions in actin remodelling through cofilin and small GTPases, thereby linking EFhd2, synapses and the actin cytoskeleton. Expression data and functional experiments in mice and in humans have led to the hypothesis that down-regulation of EFhd2, especially in the cortex, is involved in dementia.
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August 2016
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A schematic representation of the potential effect (in low intracellular Ca2+ conditions) of the Ca2+-binding, EF-hand-containing cytoskeletal protein EFhd2 on kinesin-mediated transport and actin dynamics in presynaptic compartments. For a detailed overview of the links between EFhd2 and neurodegeneration, see the review by Mielenz and Gunn-Moore in this issue (Volume 473, Issue 16, pages 2429–2437). - PDF Icon PDF LinkFront Matter
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Review Article|
August 11 2016
Physiological and pathophysiological functions of Swiprosin-1/EFhd2 in the nervous system
Dirk Mielenz;
Dirk Mielenz
1
*Division of Molecular Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine III, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email dirk.mielenz@fau.de).
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Frank Gunn-Moore
Frank Gunn-Moore
†School of Biology, Medical and Biological Sciences Building, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TF, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
February 26 2016
Revision Received:
April 20 2016
Accepted:
May 03 2016
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© 2016 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2016
Biochem J (2016) 473 (16): 2429–2437.
Article history
Received:
February 26 2016
Revision Received:
April 20 2016
Accepted:
May 03 2016
Citation
Dirk Mielenz, Frank Gunn-Moore; Physiological and pathophysiological functions of Swiprosin-1/EFhd2 in the nervous system. Biochem J 15 August 2016; 473 (16): 2429–2437. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20160168
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