Synaptic laminin prevents glial entry into the synaptic cleft

Presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes directly oppose each other at chemical synapses, minimizing the delay in transmitting information across the synaptic cleft. Extrasynaptic neuronal surfaces, in contrast, are almost entirely covered by processes from glial cells. The exclusion of glial cells fr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1998-06, Vol.393 (6686), p.698-701
Main Authors: Sanes, Joshua R, Patton, Bruce L, Chiu, Arlene Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesion
Animals
Biochemistry
Biological and medical sciences
Cells, Cultured
Cellular biology
Chick Embryo
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Laminin - physiology
letter
Mice
multidisciplinary
Neurites - physiology
Neurons
Peripheral nervous system. Autonomic nervous system. Neuromuscular transmission. Ganglionic transmission. Electric organ
Schwann Cells - physiology
Schwann Cells - ultrastructure
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Synapses - physiology
Synapses - ultrastructure
Synaptic Membranes - physiology
Synaptic Membranes - ultrastructure
Tumor Cells, Cultured
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes directly oppose each other at chemical synapses, minimizing the delay in transmitting information across the synaptic cleft. Extrasynaptic neuronal surfaces, in contrast, are almost entirely covered by processes from glial cells. The exclusion of glial cells from the synaptic cleft, and the long-term stability of synapses, presumably result in large part from the tight adhesion between presynaptic and postsynaptic elements,. Here we show that there is another requirement for synaptic maintenance: glial cells of the skeletal neuromuscular synapse, Schwann cells, are actively inhibited from entering the synaptic cleft between the motor nerve terminal and the muscle fibre. One inhibitory component is laminin 11, a heterotrimeric glycoprotein that is concentrated in the synaptic cleft. Regulation of an inhibitory interaction between glial cells and synaptic cleft components may contribute to synaptic rearrangements, and loss of this inhibition may underlie the loss of synapses that results from injury to the postsynaptic cell.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/31502