Newly Identified Protein Complex Sheds Light On Axon Growth Mechanism

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Newly Identified Protein Complex Sheds Light On Axon Growth Mechanism

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=44021

New research sheds light on the molecular mechanisms underlying axon

growth and synapse formation in the nematode worm C.elegans. In a

study published today in the open access journal Journal of Biology,

researchers have characterised a new protein, UNC-69, required for

proper locomotion . They show that UNC-69 interacts with UNC-76 in a

protein complex likely to be involved in the trafficking of vesicles

along axons - a process that drives axon growth and helps synapse

formation. The research also shows that UNC-69 is directly involved

in the formation of new synapses.

A group led by Hengartner, from the University of Zurich in

Switzerland, cloned and characterised UNC-69, a previously known

protein that had never been characterised. By studying mutants

lacking unc-69 they show that the protein is widely expressed in the

C.elegans nervous system and is required for normal axon development.

Hengartner and colleagues then show that UNC-69 physically interacts

with another protein expressed in the nervous system, UNC-76. Through

experiments on double mutant combinations, the authors show that the

two proteins cooperate to regulate axon development. The authors also

show that UNC-69 is needed for the formation or maintenance of new

synapses.

It is known that UNC-76 binds to molecular 'motor' proteins called

kinesins that transport vesicles along growing axons. Hengartner and

colleagues propose that the UNC-69/UNC-76 complex may be implicated

in vesicle trafficking, a process that is necessary for axon growth

and new synapse formation.

Article:

The short coiled-coil domain-containing protein UNC-69 cooperates

with UNC-76 to regulate axonal outgrowth and normal presynaptic

organization in Caenorhabditis elegans Cheng-Wen Su, Suzanne Tharin,

Yishi Jin, Bruce Wightman, Mona Spector, Meili, Tsung,

Christa Rhiner, Dimitris Bourikas, Esther Stoeckli, Gian Garriga, H

Horvitz and O Hengartner

Journal of Biology 2006, 5:9 (25 May 2006)

http://jbiol.com