Synucleins are developmentally expressed, and alpha-synuclein regulates the size of the presynaptic vesicular pool in primary hippocampal neurons.
|
| Abstract |
alpha-, beta-, and gamma-Synuclein, a novel family of neuronal proteins, has become the focus of research interest because alpha-synuclein has been increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. However, the normal functions of the synucleins are still unknown. For this reason, we characterized alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synuclein expression in primary hippocampal neuronal cultures and showed that the onset of alpha- and beta-synuclein expression was delayed after synaptic development, suggesting that these synucleins may not be essential for synapse formation. In mature cultured primary neurons, alpha- and beta-synuclein colocalized almost exclusively with synaptophysin in the presynaptic terminal, whereas little gamma-synuclein was expressed at all. To assess the function of alpha-synuclein, we suppressed expression of this protein with antisense oligonucleotide technology. Morphometric ultrastructural analysis of the alpha-synuclein antisense oligonucleotide-treated cultures revealed a significant reduction in the distal pool of synaptic vesicles. These data suggest that one function of alpha-synuclein may be to regulate the size of distinct pools of synaptic vesicles in mature neurons.
|
|---|---|
| Authors | D D Murphy, S M Rueter, J Q Trojanowski, V M Lee |
| Journal | The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci) Vol. 20 Issue 9 Pg. 3214-20 (May 01 2000) ISSN: 1529-2401 [Electronic] United States |
| PMID | 10777786 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.) |
| Chemical References |
|
| Topics |
|
Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!