Leucine-rich repeat genes and the fine-tuning of synapses.

摘要

Presynaptic neurexins and postsynaptic neuroligins are cell-adhesion proteins that interact across the synaptic cleft and influence synaptic function (1). These proteins have received recent attention in psychiatry because of genetic evidence linking them to schizophrenia, autism, and mental retardation (1). However, during the last 2 years, an additional family of synaptic adhesion proteins has been found to play a directly cooperative role with the neurexins and neuroligins in glutamate synapse differentiation (2-4) (Figure 1). This novel gene family is known as the leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal (LRRTM) family, and early evidence is accumulating that these genes are also implicated in psychiatric disease (5-8).