Organizers of inhibitory synapses come of age

Publication date: August 2017
Source:Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Volume 45
Author(s): Dilja Krueger-Burg, Theofilos Papadopoulos, Nils Brose
While the postsynaptic density of excitatory synapses is known to encompass a highly complex molecular machinery, the equivalent organizational structure of inhibitory synapses has long remained largely undefined. In recent years, however, substantial progress has been made towards identifying the full complement of organizational proteins present at inhibitory synapses, including submembranous scaffolds, intracellular signaling proteins, transsynaptic adhesion proteins, and secreted factors. Here, we summarize these findings and discuss future challenges in assigning synapse-specific functions to the newly discovered catalog of proteins, an endeavor that will depend heavily on newly developed technologies such as proximity biotinylation. Further advances are made all the more essential by growing evidence that links inhibitory synapses to psychiatric and neurological disorders.



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