title: The biological role of the glycinergic synapse in early zebrafish motility.
abstract: Glycine mediates fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the spinal cord, brainstem and retina. Loss of synaptic glycinergic transmission in vertebrates leads to a severe locomotion defect characterized by an exaggerated startle response accompanied by transient muscle rigidity in response to sudden acoustic or tactile stimuli. Several molecular components of the glycinergic synapse have been characterized as an outcome of genetic and physiological analyses of synaptogenesis in mammals. Recently, the glycinergic synapse has been studied using a forward genetic approach in zebrafish. This review aims to discuss molecular components of the glycinergic synapse, such as glycine receptor subunits, gephyrin, gephyrin-binding proteins and glycine transporters, as well as recent studies relevant to the genetic analysis of the glycinergic synapse in zebrafish.
authors.affiliation: Center for Frontier Research, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima 411-8540, Japan. hihirata@lab.nig.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kenta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Kazutoyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005998:Glycine / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018009:Receptors, Glycine / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018009:Receptors, Glycine; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D005998:Glycine