Assembling and function of scaffolding proteins of the post-synaptic density

Romorini Stefano, PhD in Pharmacology, Chemotherapy and medical Toxicology Summary of the PhD thesis "Assembling and function of scaffolding proteins at the post-synaptic density" Number, location and type of synapses are tightly regulated by several cellular and molecular mechanisms. At excitatory synapses a central role is occupied by scaffolding proteins that organize the structure of the dendritic spines (dendritic protrusions, on top of which glutamatergic synapses are allocated), in particular we have analyzed the formation of a complex constituted by three NMDA receptor linked scaffold (PSD95, GKAP and Shank) as a key regulatory event in the assembling and function of glutamatergic post-synaptic density. We demonstrated as the targeting of Shank (known to be involved in spines development and maturation) to the synapse is driven by the formation of this complex and how the interaction of this complex with the adhesion molecule NLG1 is able to induce the formation of new synapses. We also found a role for GKAP in maintaining the number of dendritic spines and the structure of the post-synaptci density.