Spatiotemporal expression pattern of splice variants of synapse organizers

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26640038
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology
• Research Institution: University of Toyama
• Principal Investigator: Yoshida Tomoyuki 富山大学, 大学院医学薬学研究部(医学), 准教授 (90372367)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 選択的スプライシング / シナプスオーガナイザー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Synapse formation in the brain is partly mediated by a small subset of trans-synaptic cell adhesion molecules called synapse organizers. We found that PTPδ one of presynaptic synapse organizers, existed in multiple splice variants generated by insertions of 3, 6 and 4 amino-acid residue peptides (termed mini-exon peptides) in the extracellular immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains. At least 8 splice variants in the Ig-like domains of PTPδ were expressed in the developing mouse brains. Proportions of these splice variants varied across brain regions and developmental stages. Furthermore, structural analyses of synapse-organizing complex of PTPδ and its ligands revealed the role of mini-exon peptides on the ligand recognition and synaptic differentiation. These results suggest that the choice of mini-exons may be determinants for selective pairing between PTPδ variants and their corresponding postsynaptic ligands to ensure the target specific synapse formation in the brain.

Free Research Field

分子神経生物学