Department of Neurobiology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Adv Neurobiol. 2023;33:23-42. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-34229-5_2.
The Cytomatrix Assembled at the active Zone (CAZ) of a presynaptic terminal displays electron-dense appearance and defines the center of the synaptic vesicle release. The protein constituents of CAZ are multiple-domain scaffolds that interact extensively with each other and also with an ensemble of synaptic vesicle proteins to ensure docking, fusion, and recycling. Reflecting the central roles of the active zone in synaptic transmission, CAZ proteins are highly conserved throughout evolution. As the nervous system increases complexity and diversity in types of neurons and synapses, CAZ proteins expand in the number of gene and protein isoforms and interacting partners. This chapter summarizes the discovery of the core CAZ proteins and current knowledge of their functions.
细胞基质组装在突触前末梢的活性区（CAZ）呈现电子致密外观，并定义了突触小泡释放的中心。CAZ 的蛋白质组成部分是具有多个结构域的支架，它们之间以及与突触小泡蛋白的集合广泛相互作用，以确保停靠、融合和回收。反映出活性区在突触传递中的核心作用，CAZ 蛋白在整个进化过程中高度保守。随着神经系统在神经元和突触类型上增加复杂性和多样性，CAZ 蛋白在基因和蛋白质同工型以及相互作用伙伴的数量上也在增加。本章总结了核心 CAZ 蛋白的发现以及目前对其功能的了解。
