Background：

The product of this gene belongs to the serine/threonine protein kinases family， and to the Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases subfamily. Calcium signaling is crucial for several aspects of plasticity at glutamatergic synapses. This calcium calmodulin-dependent protein kinase is composed of four different chains: alpha， beta， gamma， and delta. The alpha chain encoded by this gene is required for hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and spatial learning. In addition to its calcium-calmodulin (CaM)-dependent activity， this protein can undergo autophosphorylation， resulting in CaM-independent activity. Two transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been identified for this gene.