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Sci. Signal., 28 August 2012
Vol. 5, Issue 239, p. ec224
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.2003529]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Neuroscience Keep On Neurexin

Stella M. Hurtley

Science, AAAS, Cambridge CB2 1LQ, UK

Mutations altering neurexin and neuroligin have been linked to several psychiatric disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. However, it remains uncertain how these mutations alter neural circuit development and function. Working in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, Hu et al. found that neurexin and neuroligin function downstream of a muscle microRNA (miR-1), mediating a retrograde synaptic signal that inhibits neurotransmitter release. This retrograde signal inhibited transmission by adjusting the rate and duration of synaptic vesicle release.

Z. Hu, S. Hom, T. Kudze, X.-J. Tong, S. Choi, G. Aramuni, W. Zhang, J. M. Kaplan, Neurexin and neuroligin mediate retrograde synaptic inhibition in C. elegans. Science 337, 980–984 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: S. M. Hurtley, Keep On Neurexin. Sci. Signal. 5, ec224 (2012).

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