PDE2, a component of the NO/cGMP signalling in the hippocampus

Background NO/cGMP-mediated signal transduction is involved in synaptic plasticity in various brain regions. NO effects are transduced by the NO receptor guanylyl cyclase (NO-GC) that exists in two isoforms, NO-GC1 and NO-GC2, with indistinguishable regulatory properties. Mice deficient in either NO-GC1 or NO-GC2 revealed that both NO-GC isoforms are required for LTP indicating the existence of two separated NO/cGMP pathways. Recently, we demonstrated a presynaptic role of NO/cGMP in facilitation of glutamate release and indentified eNOS and NO-GC1 as the participating enzymes. Yet, the involved cGMP-hydrolysing phosphodiesterases (PDE) remained unknown.