Vezatin, a potential target for ADP-ribosylation factor 6, regulates the dendritic formation of hippocampal neurons

ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) is a small GTPase that regulates neuronal morphogenesis processes such as axonal, dendritic, and spine formation possibly through the actin cytoskeleton and membrane trafficking. In an attempt to define the molecular mechanisms that regulate neuronal morphogenesis by ARF6, we identified vezatin as a novel binding partner of active GTP-bound ARF6 using yeast two-hybrid screening. Vezatin was able to bind specifically to GTP-ARF6 among the ARF family. In the adult mouse brain, vezatin exhibited widespread gene expression with high levels in the hippocampus and medial habenular nucleus. In hippocampal neurons, vezatin was localized at dendrites as well as cell bodies. Knockdown of endogenous vezatin significantly reduced total dendritic length and arborization of cultured hippocampal neurons, while overexpression of vezatin increased dendritic length. Our present study suggests that vezatin may regulate dendritic formation as a downstream effector of ARF6.