Packard Mary, Mathew Dennis, Budnik Vivian
Department of Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2003 Feb;4(2):113-20. doi: 10.1038/nrn1036.
The formation of mature synaptic connections involves the targeted transport and aggregation of synaptic vesicles, the gathering of presynaptic release sites and the clustering of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels. Positional cues are required to orient the cytoskeleton in the direction of neuronal outgrowth, and also to direct the juxtaposition of synaptic protein complexes at the pre- and postsynaptic membranes. Both anterograde and retrograde factors are thought to contribute positional information during synaptic differentiation, and recent studies in vertebrates and invertebrates have begun to uncover a new role in this process for proteins that are essential for pattern formation in the early embryo.
成熟突触连接的形成涉及突触小泡的靶向运输和聚集、突触前释放位点的聚集以及突触后神经递质受体和离子通道的聚集。需要位置线索来使细胞骨架沿神经元生长方向定向，同时也引导突触前和突触后膜上突触蛋白复合物的并置。顺行和逆行因子都被认为在突触分化过程中提供位置信息，最近在脊椎动物和无脊椎动物中的研究已开始揭示早期胚胎中对模式形成至关重要的蛋白质在此过程中的新作用。
