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I\'m reading about how synaptobrevin is used to identify synaptic vesicles for t

ID: 30914 • Letter: I

Question

I'm reading about how synaptobrevin is used to identify synaptic vesicles for tethering near the synaptic cleft. Since neurons have a synapse and dendrites, I'd like to know how exactly the vesicles get moved from the Golgi to the synapse.

As far as I can tell, they are transported along microtubules by dynamins as opposed to floating freely in the cytosol (correct?). If so how do the dynenins identify synaptic vesicles - would they form a SNARE complex that gets released near the synapse or by some other means?

Explanation / Answer

You are looking for a review on vesicle cargoing along the cytoskeleton. This open access article is the most recent I found on the subject.

From the abstract:

How synaptic cargos achieve specificity, directionality and timing of transport is a developing area of investigation. Recent studies demonstrate that the docking of motors to their cargos is a key control point. Moreover, precise spatial and temporal regulation of motor-cargo interactions is important for transport specificity and cargo recruitment. Local signaling pathways Ca2+ influx, CaMKII signaling and Rab GTPase activity regulate motor activity and cargo release at synaptic locations.