SYNAPTIC ADHESION MOLECULES IN THE PANCREATIC ISLETS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. That there are key similarities between the pancreatic islets and neurons has been long-known. We have now discovered that the pancreatic islets express a group of proteins specifically associated with inhibitory synapses. It is of particular interest that some of these proteins are the recently-discovered synaptic adhesion molecules neuroligin, neurexin and syncam. Expression of these proteins has been shown to induce synapse formation in a variety of models. We hypothesize that these proteins mediate cell-cell interactions in the pancreatic islets. Furthermore, we hypothesize that these proteins mark regions on the islet cell membranes that function as pre- and post-synaptic densities. The expertise and resources of the NCMIR are especially well-suited to help us localize these synaptic proteins and test whether they form synaptic-like structures. The discovery of synapses in the pancreatic islets would be of fundamental importance in understanding how the islets function to maintain glucose homeostasis and why the aggregated cells respond so much more robustly to changes in glucose concentration than individual cells.