title: Active zone protein expression changes at the key stages of cerebellar cortex neurogenesis in the rat.
abstract: Signal transduction and neurotransmitter release in the vertebrate central nervous system are confined to the structurally complex presynaptic electron dense projections called "active zones." Although the nature of these projections remains a mystery, genetic and biochemical work has provided evidence for the active zone (AZ) associated proteins i.e. Piccolo/Aczonin, Bassoon, RIM1/Unc10, Munc13/Unc13, Liprin-α/SYD2/Dliprin and ELKS/CAST/BRP and their specific molecular functions. It still remains unclear, however, what their precise contribution is to the AZ assembly. In our project, we studied in Wistar rats the temporal and spatial distribution of AZ proteins and their colocalization with Synaptophysin in the developing cerebellar cortex at key stages of cerebellum neurogenesis. Our study demonstrated that AZ proteins were already present at the very early stages of cerebellar neurogenesis and exhibited distinct spatial and temporal variations in immunoexpression throughout the course of the study. Colocalization analysis revealed that the colocalization pattern was time-dependent and different for each studied protein. The highest collective mean percentage of colocalization (>85%) was observed at postnatal day (PD) 5, followed by PD10 (>83%) and PD15 (>80%). The findings of our study shed light on AZ protein immunoexpression changes during cerebellar cortex neurogenesis and help frame a hypothetical model of AZ assembly.
authors: Department of Animal Anatomy, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland. judytajuranek@gmail.com
authors: Judyta Karolina
authors: JK
authors: Juranek
authors: Konark
authors: K
authors: Mukherjee
authors: Tabrez J
authors: TJ
authors: Siddiqui
authors: Benjamin J
authors: BJ
authors: Kaplan
authors: Jia Yi
authors: JY
authors: Li
authors: Gudrun
authors: G
authors: Ahnert-Hilger
authors: Reinhard
authors: R
authors: Jahn
authors: Jaroslaw
authors: J
authors: Calka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D016708:Synaptophysin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009479:Neuropeptides; D016708:Synaptophysin
keywords: AZ; Active zone; Active zone proteins; BAS; Bassoon; Cerebellar cortex; DIC; EGL; GL; IGL; Immunofluorescence; LIP; Liprinα; M13; ML; Munc13-1; Neurogenesis; PD; PIC; PL; Piccolo; Purkinje cell layer; Rat; SYP; Synaptogenesis; Synaptophysin; active zone; days in culture; external granular layer; granular layer; internal granular layer; molecular layer; postnatal day