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Gephyrin

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules

  • 58 Accesses

Synonyms

Geph; Gphn; KIAA1385

Synapse and Gephyrin

Large size and polarity of neuronal cell make spatiotemporal segregation of biochemical reactions and signal transduction pathways very important. In addition to the membrane-enclosed organelles, neurons also contain specialized apparatus called synapses for effective communication within the system. The presynaptic terminals containing the relevant neurotransmitter vesicles are opposed by the concomitant receptors for effective signal transduction. Information receiving, interpretation, and storage are facilitated by a resident sub-membranous protein-rich compartment. Such protein-rich compartments are referred to as postsynaptic densities (PSD), which can be a few hundred nanometers in width and ~30 to 50 nm in thickness (Chen et al. 2008).

Since the identification of inhibitory glycine receptor (GlyR) from rat spinal cord, gephyrin has assumed a central role in our current understanding of inhibitory postsynaptic organization and...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Center for Neuroscience Zurich (ZNZ), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Yuan-Chen Tsai & Shiva K. Tyagarajan

Authors
  1. Yuan-Chen Tsai
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  2. Shiva K. Tyagarajan
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Correspondence to Shiva K. Tyagarajan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

    Sangdun Choi

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Tsai, YC., Tyagarajan, S.K. (2018). Gephyrin. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_101672

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