Synaptic vesicle binding highlights interactions between synucleins are important to brain health

A collaboration between the Burré and Sharma labs, “Synaptic vesicle binding of α-synuclein is modulated by β- and γ-synucleins,” has recently been published in Cell Reports. Their work furthers our understanding of the composition of synuclein heteromultimers on the synaptic vesicle surface and shows that these synuclein heteromultimers govern the amount of physiologically active α-synuclein on synaptic vesicles.  These findings highlight the need for a balance of synucleins for normal brain function, which when imbalanced can affect neuronal function, plasticity, and survival. The full paper can be read here.

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