A genetic interaction network containing approximately 1000 genes and approximately 4000 interactions was mapped by crossing mutations in 132 different query genes into a set of approximately 4700 viable gene yeast deletion mutants and scoring the double mutant progeny for fitness defects. Network connectivity was predictive of function because interactions often occurred among functionally related genes, and similar patterns of interactions tended to identify components of the same pathway. The genetic network exhibited dense local neighborhoods; therefore, the position of a gene on a partially mapped network is predictive of other genetic interactions. Because digenic interactions are common in yeast, similar networks may underlie the complex genetics associated with inherited phenotypes in other organisms.

The balance between excitatory and inhibitory synapses is a tightly regulated process that requires differential recruitment of proteins that dictate the specificity of newly formed contacts. However, factors that control this process remain unidentified. Here we show that members of the neuroligin (NLG) family, including NLG1, NLG2, and NLG3, drive the formation of both excitatory and inhibitory presynaptic contacts. The enrichment of endogenous NLG1 at excitatory contacts and NLG2 at inhibitory synapses supports an important in vivo role for these proteins in the development of both types of contacts. Immunocytochemical and electrophysiological analysis showed that the effects on excitatory and inhibitory synapses can be blocked by treatment with a fusion protein containing the extracellular domain of neurexin-1␤. We also found that overexpression of PSD-95, a postsynaptic binding partner of NLGs, resulted in a shift in the distribution of NLG2 from inhibitory to excitatory synapses. These findings reveal a critical role for NLGs and their synaptic partners in controlling the number of inhibitory and excitatory synapses. Furthermore, relative levels of PSD-95 alter the ratio of excitatory to inhibitory synaptic contacts by sequestering members of the NLG family to excitatory synapses.Synapse formation is a tightly regulated process that involves the recruitment of specific cell adhesion molecules and scaffolding proteins to newly formed contacts between an axon and a dendrite (1-3). In the brain, excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission is mainly mediated by two neurotransmitters: glutamate, which is released at excitatory glutamatergic synaptic contacts, and GABA, 1 which is released at inhibitory GABAergic synapses. Initial transformation of a contact to either an excitatory or inhibitory synapse is thought to be controlled by spatial and temporal changes in protein content. This process is critical because an appropriate balance between excitatory and inhibitory synapses is required for proper neuronal excitability and function (2, 4 -6). However, molecular events that control differentiation of a contact into either an excitatory or inhibitory synapse remain unknown.The postsynaptic density protein, PSD-95, is a molecule that is exclusively localized to glutamatergic synapses and regulates clustering of AMPA receptors through association with stargazin (7, 8). Through its third PDZ (PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1) homology domain, PSD-95 also recruits neuroligin-1 (NLG1), a cell adhesion molecule involved in synapse formation (9 -11). These findings indicate that association of PSD-95 with NLG1 is involved in excitatory synapse development. Recent work by Prange et al. (12) showed that NLG1 can drive both excitatory and inhibitory presynaptic contact formation. These results suggested that NLGs are involved in inhibitory synapse formation. Our work also showed that the effects of NLG1 on postsynaptic differentiation were less dramatic. Overexpression of NLG1 modestly increased the total number of excitatory posts...

Processing of neural information is thought to occur by integration of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. As such, precise control mechanisms must exist to maintain an appropriate balance between each synapse type. Recent findings indicate that neuroligins and their synaptic binding partners modulate the development of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Here we highlight these findings and discuss a mechanism potentially involved in controlling the balance between excitation and inhibition.

Perturbations in neuregulin-1 (NRG1)/ErbB4 function have been associated with schizophrenia. Affected patients exhibit altered levels of these proteins and display hypofunction of glutamatergic synapses as well as altered neuronal circuitry. However, the role of NRG1/ErbB4 in regulating synapse maturation and neuronal process formation has not been extensively examined. Here we demonstrate that ErbB4 is expressed in inhibitory interneurons at both excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic sites. Overexpression of ErbB4 postsynaptically enhances size but not number of presynaptic inputs. Conversely, knockdown of ErbB4 using shRNA decreases the size of presynaptic inputs, demonstrating a specific role for endogenous ErbB4 in synapse maturation. Using ErbB4 mutant constructs, we demonstrate that ErbB4-mediated synapse maturation requires its extracellular domain, whereas its tyrosine kinase activity is dispensable for this process. We also demonstrate that depletion of ErbB4 decreases the number of primary neurites and that stimulation of ErbB4 using a soluble form of NRG1 results in exuberant dendritic arborization through activation of the tyrosine kinase domain of ErbB4 and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway. These findings demonstrate that NRG1/ErbB4 signaling differentially regulates synapse maturation and dendritic morphology via two distinct mechanisms involving trans-synaptic signaling and tyrosine kinase activity, respectively.Although central nervous system synapses utilize a variety of brain-specific molecules to mediate contact formation and maturation, some of the proteins implicated in this process are also major players in neuromuscular junction development. Among these shared molecules are NRG1 3 and its receptor, ErbB4, which are expressed in both the developing and adult brain. Neuregulins comprise a family of four related genes (nrg1-4), each producing a large number of isoforms via differential promoter usage and alternative splicing (1, 2). NRGs contain EGF-like repeats, which enable them to bind to and activate EGF family receptors (ErbB2-4). Previous studies showed that NRG1 is initially synthesized as a transmembrane protein, which then undergoes proteolytic processing, whereby the extracellular EGF-containing fragment is released into the extracellular environment. The remaining intracellular fragment has been shown to translocate into the nucleus, where it regulates neuronal survival and transcription of PSD-95 (3, 4). Proteolytic processing of NRG1 is also regulated by neuronal activity and by interaction with ErbB receptors (3, 5). NRG1 is widely expressed throughout development and adulthood, with the highest expression in nervous tissue (6) and is essential for survival. In the central nervous system NRG1 is also required for differentiation, migration, and development of neurons and glia as well as for axonal myelination and pathfinding, dendritic development, and neurotransmitter receptor maintenance. During development, NRG1-ErbB signaling mediates radial glia maintenance and elonga...

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Dendritic filopodia are thought to participate in neuronal contact formation and development of dendritic spines; however, molecules that regulate filopodia extension and their maturation to spines remain largely unknown. Here we identify paralemmin-1 as a regulator of filopodia induction and spine maturation. Paralemmin-1 localizes to dendritic membranes, and its ability to induce filopodia and recruit synaptic elements to contact sites requires protein acylation. Effects of paralemmin-1 on synapse maturation are modulated by alternative splicing that regulates spine formation and recruitment of AMPA-type glutamate receptors. Paralemmin-1 enrichment at the plasma membrane is subject to rapid changes in neuronal excitability, and this process controls neuronal activity-driven effects on protrusion expansion. Knockdown of paralemmin-1 in developing neurons reduces the number of filopodia and spines formed and diminishes the effects of Shank1b on the transformation of existing filopodia into spines. Our study identifies a key role for paralemmin-1 in spine maturation through modulation of filopodia induction. INTRODUCTIONDuring CNS excitatory synapse development, the formation of spines, bulbous protrusions enriched with F-actin, is essential for proper synaptic transmission and neuronal function (Hall and Nobes, 2000;Yuste and Bonhoeffer, 2004;Halpain et al., 2005;Matus, 2005;. Spines contain a plethora of proteins including neurotransmitter receptors, cytoskeleton-associated proteins, and cell adhesion molecules. Spines are pleomorphic protrusions that can be modified by changes in neuronal activity, which regulate actin-based motility (Fischer et al., 1998;Portera-Cailliau et al., 2003;Matus, 2005). Defects in spine maturation and function have been associated with several forms of mental retardation including Down, Rett, Fragile X, and fetal alcohol syndromes. Some of these disorders exhibit a reduction in spine size and density and the formation of long, thin filopodia-like structures (Hering and Sheng, 2001;Zoghbi, 2003).Although our knowledge of molecules that control the morphology and functional properties of dendritic spines has expanded, information about the structures from which spines emerge is lacking. Dendritic filopodia, thin protrusions ranging in length from 2 to 35 m, are thought to participate in synaptogenesis, dendritic branching and the development of spines. During synaptogenesis, filopodia decorate the dendrites of neurons. Studies show that dendritic filopodia exhibit highly dynamic protrusive motility during periods of active synaptogenesis (Dailey and Smith, 1996;Ziv and Smith, 1996;Marrs et al., 2001). Thus, filopodia are thought to function by extending and probing the environment for appropriate presynaptic partners, thereby aiding in synapse formation. These results are further supported by electron microscopy studies which show that synapses can be formed at the tip and base of dendritic filopodia (Fiala et al., 1998;Kirov et al., 2004). As synapses form, the number of filopodia d...

Cadherins and neuroligins (NLs) represent two families of cell adhesion proteins that are essential for the establishment of synaptic connections in vitro; however, it remains unclear whether these proteins act in concert to regulate synapse density. Using a combination of overexpression and knockdown analyses in primary hippocampal neurons, we demonstrate that NL1 and N-cadherin promote the formation of glutamatergic synapses through a common functional pathway. Analysis of the spatial relationship between N-cadherin and NL1 indicates that in 14-day in vitro cultures, almost half of glutamatergic synapses are associated with both proteins, whereas only a subset of these synapses are associated with N-cadherin or NL1 alone. This suggests that NL1 and N-cadherin are spatially distributed in a manner that enables cooperation at synapses. In young cultures, N-cadherin clustering and its association with synaptic markers precede the clustering of NL1. Overexpression of N-cadherin at this time point enhances NL1 clustering and increases synapse density. Although N-cadherin is not sufficient to enhance NL1 clustering and synapse density in more mature cultures, knockdown of N-cadherin at later time points significantly attenuates the density of NL1 clusters and synapses. N-cadherin overexpression can partially rescue synapse loss in NL1 knockdown cells, possibly due to the ability of N-cadherin to recruit NL2 to glutamatergic synapses in these cells. We demonstrate that cadherins and NLs can act in concert to regulate synapse formation.Synapse formation begins with the recognition of appropriate targets and formation of incipient contacts and is followed by the recruitment of pre-and postsynaptic proteins to exquisitely localized microdomains at points of cell-cell contact (1, 2). Transsynaptic cell adhesion complexes have come to the forefront as key players in the formation and maturation of synaptic connections (3, 4). Among these adhesion complexes, the homophilic cadherin complex and the heterophilic neurexin-neuroligin complex have been extensively studied and are known to exert key roles in synapse development (5-7).The distributions of cadherins and neuroligins (NLs) 2 at synaptic compartments have previously been analyzed; however, their spatial distribution with respect to one another is still unclear. This information is essential for understanding the functional interplay between these two adhesion systems. Cadherins and their associated catenins have been observed in both pre-and postsynaptic compartments in many neuronal populations in the CNS (8, 9). Previous reports demonstrate that in the brain, two of these, N-and E-cadherin, are localized to synaptic complexes in mutually exclusive distributions (8). As synapses mature, N-cadherin is excluded from inhibitory synapses, becoming primarily localized at glutamatergic synapses (10).Evidence that cadherins play an important role in establishing synaptic junctions includes observations that cadherins rapidly accumulate at points of cell-cell contact prior ...

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