Neuroligins Differentially Mediate Subtype-Specific Synapse Formation in Pyramidal Neurons and Interneurons

作     者：Qiang-Qiang Xia Jing Xu Tai-Lin Liao Jie Yu Lei Shi Jun Xia Jian-Hong Luo Junyu Xu 

作者机构：Department of NeurobiologyInstitute of NeuroscienceNHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical NeurobiologyZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhou 31005& China JNU-HKUST Joint Laboratory for Neuroscience and Innovative Drug Research. Jinan UniversityGuangzhou 510632China Division of Life ScienceDivision of Biomedical Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience. The Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyClear Water BayKowloonHong KongChina 

出 版 物：《Neuroscience Bulletin》 (神经科学通报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2019年第35卷第3期

页      面：497-506页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 1002[医学-临床医学] 1001[医学-基础医学(可授医学、理学学位)] 10[医学] 

基　　金：supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31571049 and81561168022) the National Basic Research Program of China(2015CB910801) Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(LR19H090001 and LD19H090002) a joint grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong,China(8151101104 and N_HKUST625/15) Fundamental Research Funds for the CentralUniversities of China 

主　　题：Neuroligin Synapse formation Excitatory/inhibitory balance Interneuron 

摘      要：Neuroligins(NLs) are postsynaptic cell-adhesion proteins that play important roles in synapse formation and the excitatory-inhibitory balance. They have been associated with autism in both human genetic and animal model studies, and affect synaptic connections and synaptic plasticity in several brain regions. Yet current research mainly focuses on pyramidal neurons, while the function of NLs in interneurons remains to be understood. To explore the functional difference among NLs in the subtypespecific synapse formation of both pyramidal neurons and interneurons, we performed viral-mediated shRNA knockdown of NLs in cultured rat cortical neurons and examined the synapses in the two major types of neurons. Our results showed that in both types of neurons, NL1 and NL3 were involved in excitatory synapse formation, and NL2 in GABAergic synapse formation. Interestingly, NL1 affectedGABAergic synapse formation more specifically than NL3,and NL2 affected excitatory synapse density preferentially in pyramidal neurons. In summary, our results demonstrated that different NLs play distinct roles in regulating the development and balance of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in pyramidal neurons and interneurons.