Scientific Background | Autocamtide-2 is a synthetic peptide substrate designed for Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), modelled on the kinase's own autophosphorylation site. CaMKII decodes calcium transients in neurons, cardiac myocytes and other tissues, and its autophosphorylation at Thr286 converts it to a calcium-independent state, a form of molecular memory that has made the enzyme a long-standing subject in synaptic plasticity and cardiac signalling research. Because the peptide reproduces the preferred recognition motif, it is phosphorylated efficiently and is used as a reporter substrate in kinase assays. A closely related sequence carrying a substitution at the phosphoacceptor position, autocamtide-2-related inhibitory peptide (AIP), acts instead as a selective CaMKII inhibitor, and myristoylated AIP is used where cell permeability is required. The substrate and inhibitor forms are therefore usually used together, the inhibitor establishing that activity measured with the substrate is genuinely CaMKII-dependent. |
References | 1. Autocamtide-2-related inhibitory peptide (AIP), a selective CaMKII inhibitor derived from the autocamtide sequence — product and application summary. AIP, CaMKII inhibitor 2. Autocamtide 2, CaMKII peptide substrate — compound summary. Autocamtide-2 |
