Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Presynapse Formation Assay Using Presynapse Organizer Beads and “Neuron Ball” Culture
Published on: August 2, 2019
A Critical Role of Presynaptic Cadherin/Catenin/p140Cap Complexes in Stabilizing Spines and Functional Synapses in
Min-Yin Li1, Wan-Ying Miao2, Qiu-Zi Wu2
1Institute of Neuroscience and State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
The formation of functional synapses requires coordinated assembly of presynaptic transmitter release machinery and postsynaptic trafficking of functional receptors and scaffolds. Here, we demonstrate a critical role of presynaptic cadherin/catenin cell adhesion complexes in stabilizing functional synapses and spines in the developing neocortex. Importantly, presynaptic expression of stabilized β-catenin in either layer (L) 4 excitatory neurons or L2/3 pyramidal neurons significantly upregulated excitatory synaptic transmission and dendritic spine density in L2/3 pyramidal neurons, while its sparse postsynaptic expression in L2/3 neurons had no such effects. In addition, presynaptic β-catenin expression enhanced release probability of glutamatergic synapses. Newly identified β-catenin-interacting protein p140Cap is required in the presynaptic locus for mediating these effects. Together, our results demonstrate that cadherin/catenin complexes stabilize functional synapses and spines through anterograde signaling in the neocortex and provide important molecular evidence for a driving role of presynaptic components in spinogenesis in the neocortex.
Related Concept Videos
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Structure of Cadherins
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin...
Assembly of Signaling Complexes
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
Desmosomes

