Dendritic spines are small, thin, specialized protrusions from neuronal dendrites, primarily
localized in the excitatory synapses. Sophisticated imaging techniques revealed that …

The ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate the vast
majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the brain. The cloning of cDNAs encoding …

▪ Abstract We describe the formation, maturation, elimination, maintenance, and
regeneration of vertebrate neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), the best studied of all synapses …

PSD-95 is a neuronal PDZ protein that associates with receptors and cytoskeletal elements
at synapses, but whose function is uncertain. We found that overexpression of PSD-95 in …

NMDA receptors are linked to intracellular cytoskeletal and signaling molecules via the PSD-
95 protein complex. We report a novel family of postsynaptic density (PSD) proteins, termed …

Formation of synaptic connections requires alignment of neurotransmitter receptors on
postsynaptic dendrites opposite matching transmitter release sites on presynaptic axons. β …

The cognitive hallmark of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an extraordinary inability to form
new memories. For many years, this dementia was attributed to nerve-cell death induced by …

Excitatory synapses in the CNS release glutamate, which acts primarily on two types of
ionotropic receptors: AMPA receptors and NMDA receptors. AMPA receptors mediate the …

At the synapse, presynaptic membranes specialized for vesicular traffic are linked to
postsynaptic membranes specialized for signal transduction. The mechanisms that connect …

▪ Abstract PDZ domains are modular protein interaction domains that bind in a sequence-
specific fashion to short C-terminal peptides or internal peptides that fold in a β-finger. The …