Serine proteases, serine protease inhibitors, and protease-activated receptors: Roles in synaptic function and behavior

Serine proteases, serine protease inhibitors, and protease-activated receptors have been intensively investigated in the periphery and their roles in a wide range of processes—coagulation, inflammation, and digestion, for example—have been well characterized (see Coughlin, 2000; Macfarlane et al., 2001; Molinari et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2008; Di Cera, 2009 for reviews). A growing number of studies demonstrate that these protein systems are widely expressed in many cell types and regions in mammalian brains. Accumulating lines of evidence suggest that the brain has co-opted the activities of these interesting proteins to regulate various processes underlying synaptic activity and behavior. In this review, we discuss emerging roles for serine proteases in the regulation of mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity and memory formation.