Intermolecular disulfide bonds at central nervous system synaptic junctions

Abstract

Most proteins in isolated synaptic junctions and nearly all those in postsynaptic densities (the fibrous protein matrix underlying the postsynaptic membrane at the synapse) are extensively cross-linked by disulfide bonds into polymers with a molecular weight of 350,000 or greater. Since the postsynaptic density appears to consist primarily of a matrix of cytoplasmic proteins, such as tubulin and neurofilament protein, our results indicate that at the membrane such proteins may use disulfide bonds to differentiate into the postsynaptic density and tie into the postsynaptic membrane.