Roles of Bassoon in assembling the presynaptic active zone for neurotransmitter release [Elektronische Ressource] / von Daria Davydova

“Roles of Bassoon in assembling the presynaptic active zone for neurotransmitter release” Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) genehmigt durch die Fakultät für Naturwissenschaften der Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg von Diplom Biologin Daria Davydova geb.am 21.10.1982 in Leningrad, Russian Federation Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Eckart D. Gundelfinger Prof. Dr. Thomas Kuner eingericht am: 20.10.2009 verteidigt am: 22.04.2010 Acknowledgements To: Dr. Anna Fejtova, Dr. Wilko D. Altrock, Dr. Stefano Romorini, Claudia Marini, Ferdinand Bischof, and Prof. Eckart D. Gundelfinger, Thank you very much. This thesis was supported by the DFG graduate program GRK 1167. I am very grateful to the members of the GRK, in particular to the two chairs, Prof. Michael Naumann and Prof. Eckart D. Gundelfinger. 2 Summary Chemical synapses are highly specialized cellular junctions between neurons and their target cells, composed of a presynaptic bouton, which harbors synaptic vesicles (SVs), a postsynaptic terminal, which contains receptors for neurotransmitters and a synaptic cleft, which separates the pre- and postsynaptic compartments. In presynaptic terminals, SVs form clusters around a specialized region of the plasma membrane, known as the active zone. At the active zone a complex protein network forms the cytomatrix at the active zone (CAZ).