Nectin : An Adhesion Molecule Involved in Formation-of Synaps

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The nectin-afadin system is a novel cell-cell adhesion system that organizes adherens junctions cooperatively with the cadherin-catenin system in epithelial cells. Nectin is an immunoglobulin-like adhesion molecule, and afadin is an actin filament-binding protein that connects nectin to the actin cytoskeleton. Nectin has four isoforms (-1, -2, -3, and -4). Each nectin forms a homo-cis-dimer followed by formation of a homo-trans-dimer, but nectin-3 furthermore forms a hetero-trans-dimer with nectin-1 or -2, and the formation of each hetero-trans-dimer is stronger than that of each homo-trans-dimer. We show here that at the synapses between the mossy fiber terminals and the dendrites of pyramidal cells in the CA3 area of adult mouse hippocampus, the nectin-afadin system colocalizes with the cadherin-catenin system and that nectin-1 and -3 asymmetrically localize at the presynaptic and postsynaptic sides of puncta adherentia junctions, respectively. During development, nectin-1 and -3 asymmetrically localize not only at puncta adherentia junctions but also at synaptic junctions. Inhibition of the nectin-based adhesion by an inhibitor of nectin-1 in cultured rat hippocampal neurons results in decrease in size and concomitant increase in number of synapses. These results indicate a key role of the nectin-afadin system in formation of synapses.