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PSD-95 (Postsynaptic Density Protein-95)

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DLG4 (discs large homolog 4); Postsynaptic density protein-95; SAP-90 (synapse-associated protein 90)

Historical Background

Postsynaptic protein-95 (PSD-95), the major scaffolding and hub protein found in excitatory chemical synapses, was originally discovered in 1992 when Mary B. Kennedy et al. observed a protein containing a guanylate kinase domain with a similar sequence to the Drosophila discs large (Dlg) 1 tumor suppressor protein in the rat brain (Cho et al. 1992). During the 1990s, Kennedy and her research team found that PSD-95 resides in the postsynaptic density (PSD) fraction, where it performs its primary function: stabilizing and organizing the array situated beneath the postsynaptic membrane (Hunt et al. 1996) that contains different proteins, ion channels, and synaptic receptors to promote normal synaptic transmission and function (Kornau et al. 1995; Zhang et al. 1999). PSD-95 remains a target of high interest due to its involvement in the regulation of synapse...

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Basal Center of Excellence in Aging and Regeneration (CONICYT-PFB 12/2007) and FONDECYT (No. 1160724) to N. C. Inestrosa. D. Vallejo was a postdoctoral fellow.

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Correspondence to Nibaldo C. Inestrosa .

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Vallejo, D., Inestrosa, N.C. (2016). PSD-95 (Postsynaptic Density Protein-95). In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6438-9_101786-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6438-9_101786-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6438-9

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