Synaptic Vesicle Recycling: Genetic and Cell Biological Studies

Abstract

We review mainly the work from our research group here. Our focus has been on the use of genetic methods to delineate the mechanisms of synaptic vesicle recycling and cellular trafficking. Acute temperature-sensitive paralytic mutants have been of particular value in this approach. We have primarily used screens for suppressor and enhancer mutations to identify genetic loci coding for proteins that interact with Dynamin in Drosophila. In addition, we have used reverse genetic approaches to investigate few other candidate molecules that may play a role in synaptic vesicle endocytosis. We have in particular discussed at some length the role of endocytic accessory proteins Stoned and Eps15 in vesicle recycling.

Keywords::

• dynamin
• eps15
• ND kinase
• stoned
• vesicle recycling

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This review is based on the presentation made by K.S.K. during a meeting to felicitate Erich Buchner on his 65th birthday. It was a privilege to interact with Ziggi and Erich during their short sabbatical in Mumbai. K.S.K. thanks Erich for the innumerable reagents he gladly shared and the hours of fruitful discussions. K.S.K. acknowledges with gratitude the many contributions of his collaborators, several students whose work has been cited, and others who contributed to the results and ideas. The authors thank Mani Ramaswami and Satyajit Mayor, who made possible all the NMJ and cell biological studies.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.