Featured Review Cell Science Reviews Vol 6 No 3 ISSN 1742-8130

PKMζ and the maintenance of memory

Inhibition of the constitutively active kinase PKMζ can erase long-term memories. It is the sole protein known to be vital to the maintenance of memory. PKMζ is a truncated form of protein kinase C (PKC), the synthesis of which is regulated by a variety of signaling pathways. PKMζ can contribute to the potentiation of synapses by regulating the number of membrane AMPA receptors, and may have other, yet to be elucidated, functions. The realization that the constant activity of a kinase is necessary for the maintenance of memory may impact major hypotheses in the field of neuroscience as well as the treatment of neurological disease. Many questions about the regulation and functions of PKMζ remain to be answered; these answers may also explain how cell biology generates and maintains memories that appear to last a lifetime.

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