TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular and Functional Asymmetry at a Vertebrate Electrical Synapse
AU - Rash, John E.
AU - Curti, Sebastian
AU - Vanderpool, Kimberly G.
AU - Kamasawa, Naomi
AU - Nannapaneni, Srikant
AU - Palacios-Prado, Nicolas
AU - Flores, Carmen E.
AU - Yasumura, Thomas
AU - O'Brien, John
AU - Lynn, Bruce D.
AU - Bukauskas, Feliksas F.
AU - Nagy, James I.
AU - Pereda, Alberto E.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Michael V.L. Bennett and Peter Sterling for their comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants S10RR05831, S10RR08329, NS044395, and NS044010 (to J.E.R.), EY012857 (to J.O.), RO1NS072238 (to F.F.B.), Canadian Institute for Health Research (to J.I.N.), and by NIH grants DC03186, DC011099, R21NS055726, and NS0552827 (to A.E.P.).
PY - 2013/9/4
Y1 - 2013/9/4
N2 - Electrical synapses are abundant in the vertebrate brain, but their functional and molecular complexities are still poorly understood. We report here that electrical synapses between auditory afferents and goldfish Mauthner cells are constructed by apposition of hemichannels formed by two homologs of mammalian connexin 36 (Cx36) and that, while Cx35 is restricted to presynaptic hemiplaques, Cx34.7 is restricted to postsynaptic hemiplaques, forming heterotypic junctions. This molecular asymmetry is associated with rectification of electrical transmission that may act to promote cooperativity between auditory afferents. Our data suggest that, in similarity to pre- and postsynaptic sites at chemical synapses, one side in electrical synapses should not necessarily be considered the mirror image of the other. While asymmetry based on the presence of two Cx36 homologs is restricted to teleost fish, it might also be based on differences in posttranslational modifications of individual connexins or in the complement of gap junction-associated proteins
AB - Electrical synapses are abundant in the vertebrate brain, but their functional and molecular complexities are still poorly understood. We report here that electrical synapses between auditory afferents and goldfish Mauthner cells are constructed by apposition of hemichannels formed by two homologs of mammalian connexin 36 (Cx36) and that, while Cx35 is restricted to presynaptic hemiplaques, Cx34.7 is restricted to postsynaptic hemiplaques, forming heterotypic junctions. This molecular asymmetry is associated with rectification of electrical transmission that may act to promote cooperativity between auditory afferents. Our data suggest that, in similarity to pre- and postsynaptic sites at chemical synapses, one side in electrical synapses should not necessarily be considered the mirror image of the other. While asymmetry based on the presence of two Cx36 homologs is restricted to teleost fish, it might also be based on differences in posttranslational modifications of individual connexins or in the complement of gap junction-associated proteins
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.06.037
DO - 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.06.037
M3 - Article
C2 - 24012008
AN - SCOPUS:84884200413
SN - 0896-6273
VL - 79
SP - 957
EP - 969
JO - Neuron
JF - Neuron
IS - 5
ER -