Myristoylated Alanine-Rich C Kinase Substrate (MARCKS) is a major substrate for phosphorylation by protein kinase C (PKC) (Ouimet et al.,1990) and is concentrated in synapses of neurons. It appears to function in synaptic vesicle cycling and has been shown to bind both actin and calmodulin in vitro (Hartwig et al. 1992). Deletion of the MARCKS gene in mice results in embryonic brain defects and death (Stumpo et al. 1995). MARCKS is a member of a family of calmodulin binding proteins and phosphorylation of Ser152/156 modulates the binding of MARCKS to calmodulin (Verghese et al., 1994).
