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The synaptic maintenance problem: membrane recycling, Ca2+ homeostasis and late onset degeneration.

Bezprozvanny, I., and Hiesinger, P.R – 2013

Most neurons are born with the potential to live for the entire lifespan of the organism. In addition, neurons are highly polarized cells with often long axons, extensively branched dendritic trees and many synaptic contacts. Longevity together with morphological complexity results in a formidable challenge to maintain synapses healthy and functional. This challenge is often evoked to explain adult-onset degeneration in numerous neurodegenerative disorders that result from otherwise divergent causes. However, comparably little is known about the basic cell biological mechanisms that keep normal synapses alive and functional in the first place. How the basic maintenance mechanisms are related to slow adult-onset degeneration in different diseasesis largely unclear. In this review we focus on two basic and interconnected cell biological mechanisms that are required for synaptic maintenance: endomembrane recycling and calcium (Ca(2+)) homeostasis. We propose that subtle defects in these homeostatic processes can lead to late onset synaptic degeneration. Moreover, the same basic mechanisms are hijacked, impaired or overstimulated in numerous neurodegenerative disorders. Understanding the pathogenesis of these disorders requires an understanding of both the initial cause of the disease and the on-going changes in basic maintenance mechanisms. Here we discuss the mechanisms that keep synapses functional over long periods of time with the emphasis on their role in slow adult-onset neurodegeneration.

Titel
The synaptic maintenance problem: membrane recycling, Ca2+ homeostasis and late onset degeneration.
Verfasser
Bezprozvanny, I., and Hiesinger, P.R
Verlag
BioMed Central
Schlagwörter
Neurodegeneration, Endosome, Autophagy, Alzheimer’s disease, Calcium, Presenilin, Amyloid, Huntington’s disease, Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy, Lysosomal storage disorder, Ataxia, Calcineurin, Excitotoxicity
Datum
2013-07-08
Kennung
doi: 10.1186/1750-1326-8-23
Erschienen in
Mol Neurodegener 8: 23
Sprache
eng
Art
Text
Rechte
© 2013 Bezprozvanny and Hiesinger; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0).