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Maturation of active zone assembly by Drosophila Bruchpilot

¹ Institute for Biology/Genetics, Free University Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
² BioImaging Center and ³ Institute for Clinical Neurobiology, Universität Würzburg, 97078 Würzburg, Germany
⁴ Research & Development, Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, 68165 Mannheim, Germany
⁵ Carl-Ludwig-Institut für Physiologie, Medizinische Fakultät, Universität Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
⁶ European Neuroscience Institute and Center for Molecular Physiology of the Brain, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Correspondence to Stephan J. Sigrist: stephan.sigrist{at}fu-berlin.de

Synaptic vesicles fuse at active zone (AZ) membranes where Ca²⁺ channels are clustered and that are typically decorated by electron-dense projections. Recently, mutants of the Drosophila melanogaster ERC/CAST family protein Bruchpilot (BRP) were shown to lack dense projections (T-bars) and to suffer from Ca²⁺ channel–clustering defects. In this study, we used high resolution light microscopy, electron microscopy, and intravital imaging to analyze the function of BRP in AZ assembly. Consistent with truncated BRP variants forming shortened T-bars, we identify BRP as a direct T-bar component at the AZ center with its N terminus closer to the AZ membrane than its C terminus. In contrast, Drosophila Liprin-, another AZ-organizing protein, precedes BRP during the assembly of newly forming AZs by several hours and surrounds the AZ center in few discrete punctae. BRP seems responsible for effectively clustering Ca²⁺ channels beneath the T-bar density late in a protracted AZ formation process, potentially through a direct molecular interaction with intracellular Ca²⁺ channel domains.

Abbreviations used in this paper: au, arbitrary units; AZ, active zone; BRP, Bruchpilot; Cac, Cacophony; DGluR, Drosophila glutamate receptor subunit; DLiprin-, Drosophila Liprin-; EMS, ethyl methyl sulfonate; FS, freeze substitution; HPF, high pressure freezing; IP, immunoprecipitation; mStraw, mStrawberry; NMJ, neuromuscular junction; PSD, postsynaptic density; PSF, point spread function; STED, stimulated emission depletion; UAS, upstream activator sequence.

© 2009 Fouquet et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jcb.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Leslie, M. (2009). Calcium channel roundup. JCB 186: 2-2 [Full Text]  

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