Synaptophysin: a substrate for the protein tyrosine kinase pp60c-src in intact synaptic vesicles

Expression of pp60c-src, the first well defined proto-oncogene product, is developmentally regulated and tissue-specific, with neuronal tissues displaying high amounts of the c-src encoded pp60c-src kinase activity. In the central nervous system pp60c-src is preferentially expressed in regions characterized by a high content of grey matter and elevated density of nerve terminals. In this study we show for the first time a direct interaction between pp60c-src and synaptophysin as a physiological target protein in neurons by demonstrating that endogenous pp60c-src is able to phosphorylate synaptophysin (p38). p38 is a major constituent of the synaptic vesicle membrane protein and is thought to play a key role in the exocytosis of small synaptic vesicles and possibly small clear vesicles in neuroendocrine cells.