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A calcium- and calmodulin-binding protein present in highest concentrations in the central nervous system. Calcineurin is composed of two subunits. A catalytic subunit, calcineurin A, and a regulatory subunit, calcineurin B, with molecular weights of about 60 kD and 19 kD, respectively. Calcineurin has been shown to dephosphorylate a number of phosphoproteins including histones, myosin light chain, and the regulatory subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. It is involved in the regulation of signal transduction and is the target of an important class of immunophilin-immunosuppressive drug complexes in T-lymphocytes that act by inhibiting T-cell activation. EC 3.1.3.-.