QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, October 13, 2004, 24(41):9027-9034; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5399-04.2004

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) HTML Page - index.htslp Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (16) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jontes, J. D. Articles by Smith, S. J Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jontes, J. D. Articles by Smith, S. J

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Cellular/Molecular
In Vivo Trafficking and Targeting of N-Cadherin to Nascent Presynaptic Terminals

James D. Jontes, Michelle R. Emond, and Stephen J Smith

Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305

N-cadherin is a prominent component of developing and mature synapses, yet very little is known about its trafficking within neurons. To investigate N-cadherin dynamics in developing axons, we used in vivo two-photon time-lapse microscopy of N-cadherin—green fluorescent protein (Ncad-GFP), which was expressed in Rohon-Beard neurons of the embryonic zebrafish spinal cord. Ncad-GFP was present as either stable accumulations or highly mobile transport packets. The mobile transport packets were of two types: tubulovesicular structures that moved preferentially in the anterograde direction and discrete-punctate structures that exhibited bidirectional movement. Stable puncta of Ncad-GFP accumulated in the wake of the growth cone with a time course. Colocalization of Ncad-GFP puncta with synaptic markers suggests that N-cadherin is a very early component of nascent synapses. Expression of deletion mutants revealed a potential role of the extracellular domain in appropriate N-cadherin trafficking and targeting. These results are the first to characterize the trafficking of a synaptic cell-adhesion molecule in developing axons in vivo. In addition, we have begun to investigate the cell biology of N-cadherin trafficking and targeting in the context of an intact vertebrate embryo.

Key words: adhesion; imaging; spinal; synaptogenesis; Rohon-Beard; in vivo

---

Received Dec 6, 2003; revised August 26, 2004; accepted August 31, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Giagtzoglou, C. V. Ly, and H. J. Bellen Cell Adhesion, the Backbone of the Synapse: "Vertebrate" and "Invertebrate" Perspectives Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, October 1, 2009; 1(4): a003079 - a003079. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Kohsaka, E. Takasu, and A. Nose In vivo induction of postsynaptic molecular assembly by the cell adhesion molecule Fasciclin2 J. Cell Biol., December 17, 2007; 179(6): 1289 - 1300. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. P. Meyer and S. J Smith Evidence from in vivo imaging that synaptogenesis guides the growth and branching of axonal arbors by two distinct mechanisms. J. Neurosci., March 29, 2006; 26(13): 3604 - 3614. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Panzer, Y. Song, and R. J. Balice-Gordon In Vivo Imaging of Preferential Motor Axon Outgrowth to and Synaptogenesis at Prepatterned Acetylcholine Receptor Clusters in Embryonic Zebrafish Skeletal Muscle J. Neurosci., January 18, 2006; 26(3): 934 - 947. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Nern, L.-V. T. Nguyen, T. Herman, S. Prakash, T. R. Clandinin, and S. L. Zipursky From The Cover: An isoform-specific allele of Drosophila N-cadherin disrupts a late step of R7 targeting PNAS, September 6, 2005; 102(36): 12944 - 12949. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help