We summarize studies of knockout (KO) mice shedding light on the role of three proteins (neuroligin-1, neuroligin-2, and collybistin) involved in the regulation of glutamatergic and GABAergic transmission (Figure 1).
Neuroligin-1 Regulates Excitatory Synaptic Transmission and LTP in the Dentate Gyrus
Kwon et al., "Transsynaptic signaling by activity-dependent cleavage of
neuroligin-1," Neuron, vol.
In this work, the abundance of neurexin II and neuroligin-1 in the ENS of rats at different embryonic days was investigated through quantitative real-time PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence staining.
Then, Ct of neuroligin-1, neurexin II, and [beta]-actin was measured to calculate [DELTA]Ct (Ct of neuroligin-1 or neurexin II minus Ct of [beta]-actin).
The protein -
Neuroligin-1 (NLGN1) - is known to be involved in memory formation; this is the first time it's been linked to amyloid-associated memory loss.
Neuroligin-1 is a specific CAM for excitatory (glutamatergic) synapses, while neuroligin-2 is a specific CAM for inhibitory (GABAergic) synapses.
Nakahara et al., "Activity-dependent proteolytic cleavage of neuroligin-1, " Neuron, vol.
Meriney, "Distinct roles of neuroligin-1 and SynCAM1 in synapse formation and function in primary hippocampal neuronal cultures," Neuroscience, vol.
Lee et al., "
Neuroligin-1 is required for normal expression of LTP and associative fear memory in the amygdala of adult animals," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol.
Kwon et al., "Input-specific synaptic plasticity in the amygdala is regulated by
neuroligin-1 via postsynaptic NMDA receptors," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol.