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Comments on Lazaro-Pena M et al. (2018) Genetics "Synaptogenesis Is Modulated by Heparan Sulfate inCaenorhabditis elegans." (0)
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Lazaro-Pena M, Diaz-Balzac C, Bulow H, & Emmons S (2018). Synaptogenesis Is Modulated by Heparan Sulfate inCaenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. doi:10.1534/genetics.118.300837
The nervous system regulates complex behaviors through a network of neurons interconnected by synapses. How specific synaptic connections are genetically determined is still unclear. Male mating is the most complex behavior in<i>C. elegans</i>It is composed of sequential steps that are governed by more than 3,000 chemical connections. Here we show that heparan sulfates (HS) play a role in the formation and function of the male neural network. HS, sulfated in position 3 by the HS modification enzyme HST-3.1<i>/</i>HS 3-<i>O</i>-sulfotransferase and attached to the HSPG glypicans LON-2/glypican and GPN-1/glypican, functions cell-autonomously and non-autonomously for response to hermaphrodite contact during mating. Loss of 3-<i>O</i>sulfation resulted in the presynaptic accumulation of RAB-3, a molecule that localizes to synaptic vesicles, and disrupted the formation of synapses in a component of the mating circuits. We also show that the neural cell adhesion protein NRX-1/neurexin promotes and neural cell adhesion protein NLG-1/neuroligin inhibits formation of the same set of synapses in a parallel pathway. Thus, neural cell adhesion proteins and extracellular matrix components act together in the formation of synaptic connections.
