Associate Professor University of Utah, Utah, United States
Connecting neurons is a critical and complex step in brain development. Neurons must construct the right type of synapse with specific synaptic partners within a dense extracellular environment. It is long thought that a differential code of cell adhesion molecules drives this process but there has been little experimental evidence, likely due to the complexity of the code and functional redundancy. To address this gap, we identified a cell adhesion molecule that mediates specific synapse formation. Kirrel3 is an immunoglobulin superfamily receptor expressed in the brain and mutations in Kirrel3 are repeatedly associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. We discovered that it is necessary to form a very specific type of synapse but little is known about precisely how it functions at the molecular level. Using proteomics, we identified several direct binding partners of Kirrel3. I will discuss our current work investigating how Kirrel3 and its binding partners cooperate to build a synapse, and how proper formation of this synapse modulates learning and memory. Our work on Kirrel3 should contribute to understanding general principles that guide connectivity during brain development and that go awry in neurodevelopmental disorders.
