Nerve-terminal proteins: to fuse to learn

Transmitter release and membrane expansion involves the fusion of specialized vesicles to their target membranes. The mechanisms that regulate these fusion events might contribute to short- and long-term changes of synaptic efficiency that are associated with learning. A series of recently described protein-protein interactions has shed new light on vesicle binding to the cytoskeleton, vesicle docking to the target membranes and, finally, vesicle fusion and membrane retrieval. Specific steps in this pathway might be key sites for modulating the strength of synaptic connections that underlie the molecular basis of learning.