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- ************************
- * Synapsins signatures *
- ************************
-
- Synapsins [1,2] are neuronal phosphoproteins that coat synaptic vesicles, bind
- to several elements of the cytoskeleton (including actin filaments), and are
- believed to function in the regulation of neurotransmitter release.
-
- The synapsin family currently includes the highly related synapsin I and II.
- Both synapsins exists in two alternatively spliced variants: IA and IB; IIA
- and IIB, which only differ in their carboxy-termini.
-
- Structurally synapsin IA/IB consist of a small N-terminal domain (referred to
- as the 'A' domain) that contains a serine residue which serves as an acceptor
- site for phosphorylation by both cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and Ca2+,
- calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I. The 'A' domain is followed by a linker
- domain ('B') of some 80 residues. The third domain ('C'), which contains 300
- amino acids, is implicated in the binding to actin and to synaptic vesicles.
- The fourth domain 'D' is proline-rich and contains about 250 residues. Finally
- the C-terminal spliced domain is known as 'E' (in IA), or 'F' (in IB). The
- structure of synapsin IIA/IIB also consists of the 'A', 'B', and 'C' domains,
- the 'D' domain is replaced by smaller proline-rich region ('G'). Synapsin IIB
- ends with a small domain ('I'), while the larger C-terminal of synapsin IIA
- consist of two domains: 'H' and 'E' (homologous to the 'E' of IA). A diagram
- of the domains structure of the four synapsins is shown below.
-
- 1 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
- |........|.........|.........|.........|.........|.........|.........|.
- +-+-------+------------------------------+------------------------+---+
- |A| B | C | D | E | IA
- +-+-------+------------------------------+------------------------+---+
-
- +-+-------+------------------------------+------------------------+-+
- |A| B | C | D |F| IB
- +-+-------+------------------------------+------------------------+-+
-
- +-+-------+------------------------------+---+-------+---+
- |A| B | C | G | H | E | IIA
- +-+-------+------------------------------+---+-------+---+
-
- +-+-------+------------------------------+---+-+
- |A| B | C | G |I| IIB
- +-+-------+------------------------------+---+-+
-
- We have selected two conserved regions as signature patterns for synapsins.
- The first one is a conserved octapeptide in domain 'A' which contains the
- phosphorylated serine residue; the second pattern is a perfectly conserved
- stretch of 11 residues located in the center of the 'C' domain.
-
- -Consensus pattern: L-R-R-R-L-S-D-S
- [The first S is phosphorylated]
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
-
- -Consensus pattern: G-H-A-H-S-G-M-G-K-V-K
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
-
- -Last update: November 1990 / First entry.
-
- [ 1] Bahler M., Benfenati F., Valtorta F., Greengard P.
- BioEssays 12:259-263(1990).
- [ 2] Sudhof T.C., Czernik A.J., Kao H.-T., Takei K., Johnston P.A.,
- Horiuchi A., Kanazir S.D., Wagner M.A., Perin M.S., De Camilli P.,
- Greengard P.
- Science 245:1474-1480(1989).
-