FIGURE 2.

Basic activation mechanism of CaMKII that leads to autonomy resulting from Thr²⁸⁶ autophosphorylation. Under basal conditions, the enzyme is present in an autoinhibited state with the regulatory segment bound to the catalytic domain. This can be activated by the binding of Ca²⁺/CaM to the regulatory domain which releases the regulatory segment from the catalytic domain. The activated enzyme can autophosphorylate at Thr²⁸⁶ or any other substrates. The autonomous CaMKII thus generated can be catalytically active even in the absence of Ca²⁺/CaM.