Book chapter
Protocadherins and Synapse Development
Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptogenesis, pp.137-150
Springer US
2006
DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-32562-0_10
Abstract
Three families of protocadherin (Pcdh) genes, Pcdh-α, -β, and -γ, are clustered in a tandem array on a single chromosome in mammals. Members of these Pcdh families are expressed in an overlapping, combinatorial manner in the nervous system and the proteins they encode are present at some synaptic sites. This has led to the hypothesis that protocadherins may provide an adhesive code involved in the specification of synaptic patterning. Mice in which the 22-gene Pcdh-γ cluster has been deleted or disrupted die shortly after birth with synaptic defects that may be consistent with such a function. This chapter reviews these and other recent data on the organization, expression, and function of the clustered Pcdh genes and enumerates several unanswered questions that will be important to address in future work.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Protocadherins and Synapse Development
- Creators
- Joshua A Weiner - Department of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptogenesis, pp.137-150
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-0-387-32562-0_10
- Publisher
- Springer US; Boston, MA
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2006
- Academic Unit
- Liberal Arts and Science Admin; Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9983997428202771
Metrics
89 Record Views