Direct interaction of CASK/LIN-2 and syndecan heparan sulfate proteoglycan and their overlapping distribution in neuronal synapses.

ABSTRACT: CASK, the rat homolog of a gene (LIN-2) required for vulval differentiation in Caenorhabditis elegans, is expressed in mammalian brain, but its function in neurons is unknown. CASK is distributed in a punctate somatodendritic pattern in neurons. By immunogold EM, CASK protein is concentrated in synapses, but is also present at nonsynaptic membranes and in intracellular compartments. This immunolocalization is consistent with biochemical studies showing the presence of CASK in soluble and synaptosomal membrane fractions and its enrichment in postsynaptic density fractions of rat brain. By yeast two-hybrid screening, a specific interaction was identified between the PDZ domain of CASK and the COOH terminal tail of syndecan-2, a cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG). The interactio

SUBMITTER: Hsueh YP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2133027 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature