spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 6 December 2006
doi: 10.1242/dev.02725

Development 134, 237-249 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.02725v1
134/2/237    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in Development
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hung, W.
Right arrow Articles by Zhen, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hung, W.
Right arrow Articles by Zhen, M.

Neuronal polarity is regulated by a direct interaction between a scaffolding protein, Neurabin, and a presynaptic SAD-1 kinase in Caenorhabditis elegans

Wesley Hung, Christine Hwang, Michelle D. Po and Mei Zhen*

Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital and Department of Microbiology and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X5, Canada.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: zhen{at}mshri.on.ca)

Accepted 2 November 2006

The establishment of axon-dendrite identity in developing neurites is essential for the development of a functional nervous system. The SAD serine-threonine kinases have been implicated in regulating neuronal polarization and synapse formation. Here, we show that the C. elegans SAD-1 kinase regulates axonal identity and synapse formation through distinct mechanisms. We identified a scaffolding protein, Neurabin (NAB-1), as a physiological binding partner of SAD-1. Both sad-1 and nab-1 loss-of-function mutants display polarity defects in which synaptic vesicles accumulate in both axons and dendrites. We show that sad-1 and nab-1 function in the same genetic pathway to restrict axonal fate. Unlike sad-1, nab-1 mutants display normal morphology of vesicle clusters. Strikingly, although the physical interaction of NAB-1 with SAD-1 is necessary for polarity, it is dispensable for synapse morphology. We propose that Neurabin functions as a scaffold to facilitate SAD-1-mediated phosphorylation for substrates specific for restricting axonal fate during neuronal polarization.

Key words: sad-1, Neurabin, Neuronal polarity, Caenorhabditis elegans


Related articles in Development:

Polarising neurons: enter NAB-1

Development 2007 134: e203. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol. Biol. CellHome page
F. Causeret, T. Jacobs, M. Terao, O. Heath, M. Hoshino, and M. Nikolic
Neurabin-I Is Phosphorylated by Cdk5: Implications for Neuronal Morphogenesis and Cortical Migration
Mol. Biol. Cell, November 1, 2007; 18(11): 4327 - 4342.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007