“
“The exocyst is an octameric protein complex mediating polarized secretion by tethering vesicles to target membranes. In non-vertebrate neurons, the exocyst has been associated with constitutive membrane

addition at growth cones and nerve terminals, but its function in synaptic vesicle trafficking at mammalian nerve terminals remains unclear. Here, we examined learn more the role of the exocyst complex in immature postnatal day (P)13 and mature P21 rat calyces of Held. Exo70, an exocyst subunit conferring membrane anchoring of the complex, was tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and overexpressed as a full-length subunit or as a dominant-negative C-terminally truncated variant (Exo70ΔC) disrupting membrane targeting. In vivo expression of the Exo70 subunits in the calyx was achieved by stereotaxic adeno-associated virus-mediated gene transfer into globular bushy cells of the rat ventral cochlear nucleus at P2. Overexpression of dominant-negative Exo70ΔC, but not full-length Exo70, decreased the structural complexity and volume of calyces, as assayed by confocal microscopy and three-dimensional reconstructions. The distribution of active zones and synaptic vesicles remained unaffected. Neither perturbation changed the characteristics

of spontaneous and evoked neurotransmitter release, short-term depression or recovery from depression. Together, these data suggest MI-503 in vitro that in central mammalian synapses,

the exocyst complex mediates the addition of membrane during postnatal presynaptic maturation, but does not function as a tethering complex in local recycling of vesicles within the synaptic vesicle cycle. “
“The incidence of social disorders such Nutlin-3 order as autism and schizophrenia is significantly higher in males, and the presentation more severe, than in females. This suggests the possible contribution of sex hormones to the development of these psychiatric disorders. There is also evidence that these disorders are highly heritable. To contribute toward our understanding of the mechanisms underlying social behaviors, particularly social interaction, we assessed the relationship of social interaction with gene expression for two neuropeptides, oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), using adult male mice. Social interaction was positively correlated with: oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasopressin receptor (V1aR) mRNA expression in the medial amygdala; and OT and AVP mRNA expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). When mice representing extremes of social interaction were compared, all of these mRNAs were more highly expressed in high social interaction mice than in low social interaction mice.