Neurexins, neuroligins and LRRTMs: synaptic adhesion getting fishy.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have identified the leucine rich repeat protein LRRTM2 as a post-synaptic ligand of Neurexins. Neurexins also bind the post-synaptic adhesion molecules, Neuroligins. All three families of genes have been implicated in the etiologies of neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Does the binding promiscuity of Neurexins now suggest complex cooperativity or redundancy at the synapse? While recent studies in primary neuronal cultures and also systematic extracellular protein interaction screens suggest summative effects of these systems, we propose that studying these interactions in the developing zebrafish embryo or larvae may shed more light on their functions during synaptogenesis in vivo. These gene families have recently been e

SUBMITTER: Wright GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3066302 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature