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Student Authors
Amy CheungAcademic Program
MD/PhDUMass Chan Affiliations
Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical SciencesFutai Lab
Neurobiology
Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2019-02-13Keywords
RRID AB_514500RRID AB_840257
RRIDs
RRID SCR_003070
brain
in situ hybridization
mice
neurexin
synapse
trans-synaptic adhesion
Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins
Genetic Phenomena
Nervous System
Neurology
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Synapses, highly specialized membrane junctions between neurons, connect presynaptic neurotransmitter release sites and postsynaptic ligand-gated channels. Neurexins (Nrxns), a family of presynaptic adhesion molecules, have been characterized as major regulators of synapse development and function. Via their extracellular domains, Nrxns bind to different postsynaptic proteins, generating highly diverse functional readouts through their postsynaptic binding partners. Not surprisingly given these versatile protein interactions, mutations and deletions of Nrxn genes have been identified in patients with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and schizophrenia. Therefore, elucidating the expression profiles of Nrxns in the brain is of high significance. Here, using chromogenic and fluorescent in situ hybridization, we characterize the expression patterns of Nrxn isoforms throughout the brain. We found that each Nrxn isoform displays a unique expression profile in a region-, cell type-, and sensory system-specific manner. Interestingly, we also found that alphaNrxn1 and alphaNrxn2 mRNAs are expressed in non-neuronal cells, including astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Lastly, we found diverse expression patterns of genes that encode Nrxn binding proteins, such as Neuroligins (Nlgns), Leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal protein (Lrrtms) and Latrophilins (Adgrls), suggesting that Nrxn proteins can mediate numerous combinations of trans-synaptic interactions. Together, our anatomical profiling of Nrxn gene expression reflects the diverse roles of Nrxn molecules.Source
J Comp Neurol. 2019 Feb 13. doi: 10.1002/cne.24664. [Epub ahead of print] Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1002/cne.24664Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/37965PubMed ID
30761534Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/cne.24664