The connections, or 'synapses', between neurons change in both strength and shape in response to consistent use — a mechanism thought to underpin learning and memory.
Mariko Kato Hayashi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and her colleagues now show that the protein Homer forms tetramers — proteins with four subunits — whose multiple facets could help to coordinate signalling and shape changes at excitatory synapses in the central nervous system.
The researchers show that purified Homer filaments self-assemble with globular hubs of the protein Shank to form a mesh-like polymer matrix that can still incorporate other Homer-binding proteins.
A mutant form of Homer disrupted both the tetramer and the Homer–Shank matrix in vitro, and affected synaptic structure and function in cultured neurons and brain slices.
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Neuroscience: Tetrapack protein. Nature 458, 811 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458811a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/458811a