Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-10-2025
Abstract
Protein glycosylation is a critical post-translational modification that mediates a myriad of biological functions, including neuronal development in the brain. Stages of neuronal development include neurogenesis, neuronal migration, axonal guidance, synapse formation, and activity-dependent synaptic remodeling and plasticity. Among these, synapse formation and plasticity are essential to establish and maintain neuronal circuits for proper brain function. Yet, the physiological role of glycans at synapses remains poorly understood. This is especially true for complex glycans, known for decades to be present on the cell surface or extracellular matrix, including the microenvironment around synapses. In this review, we highlight recent examples of complex glycans to illustrate their roles in synapse formation and function. Based on these advances, we propose three principal models to categorize all examples in our discussion. We hope this will be beneficial for the field to begin a discussion on the conceptual framework underlying the role of glycans at synapses.
Language
English
Publication Title
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
Grant
1R01MH130476
Rights
© 2025 The Authors. This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Peng, "The Diverse Roles of Complex Glycans in Synapse Development and Function" (2025). Faculty Scholarship. 1284.
https://commons.case.edu/facultyworks/1284
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version