JCB logo
Accuri Cytometers
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 975K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JCB
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dieck, S.
Right arrow Articles by Gundelfinger, E. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dieck, S.
Right arrow Articles by Gundelfinger, E. D.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

J. Cell Biol., Volume 142, Number 2, July 27, 1998 499-509

Bassoon, a Novel Zinc-finger CAG/Glutamine-repeat Protein Selectively Localized at the Active Zone of Presynaptic Nerve Terminals

Susannetom Dieck,* Lydia Sanmartí-Vila,* Kristina Langnaese,* Karin Richter,* Stefan Kindler,Dagger Antje Soyke,§ Heike Wex,* Karl-Heinz Smalla,*parallel Udo Kämpf,* Jürgen-Theodor Fränzer,* Markus Stumm,§ Craig C. Garner, and Eckart D. Gundelfinger*

* Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, D-39118 Magdeburg, Germany; Dagger  Institute for Cellular Biochemistry and Clinical Neurobiology, University of Hamburg, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany; § Institute for Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, Otto von Guericke University, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany; parallel  Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical Faculty, Otto von Guericke University, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany; and  Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, South Birmingham, Alabama 35213-0021

The molecular architecture of the cytomatrix of presynaptic nerve terminals is poorly understood. Here we show that Bassoon, a novel protein of >400,000 Mr, is a new component of the presynaptic cytoskeleton. The murine bassoon gene maps to chromosome 9F. A comparison with the corresponding rat cDNA identified 10 exons within its protein-coding region. The Bassoon protein is predicted to contain two double-zinc fingers, several coiled-coil domains, and a stretch of polyglutamines (24 and 11 residues in rat and mouse, respectively). In some human proteins, e.g., Huntingtin, abnormal amplification of such poly-glutamine regions causes late-onset neurodegeneration. Bassoon is highly enriched in synaptic protein preparations. In cultured hippocampal neurons, Bassoon colocalizes with the synaptic vesicle protein synaptophysin and Piccolo, a presynaptic cytomatrix component. At the ultrastructural level, Bassoon is detected in axon terminals of hippocampal neurons where it is highly concentrated in the vicinity of the active zone. Immunogold labeling of synaptosomes revealed that Bassoon is associated with material interspersed between clear synaptic vesicles, and biochemical studies suggest a tight association with cytoskeletal structures. These data indicate that Bassoon is a strong candidate to be involved in cytomatrix organization at the site of neurotransmitter release.

Key words: trinucleotide repeatsmouse bassoon genepresynaptic terminalsrat brainsynapses


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents