The Caenorhabditis elegans R13A5.9 gene plays a role in synaptic vesicle exocytosis

Tarou Ogurusu; Kazumi Sakata; Tokumitsu Wakabayashi; Yutaro Shimizu; Ryuzo Shingai

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.06.048

The Caenorhabditis elegans R13A5.9 gene plays a role in synaptic vesicle exocytosis

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2015 Aug 7;463(4):994-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.06.048. Epub 2015 Jun 12.

Authors

Tarou Ogurusu¹, Kazumi Sakata², Tokumitsu Wakabayashi², Yutaro Shimizu², Ryuzo Shingai²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Iwate University, 4 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate 020-8551, Japan. Electronic address: ogurusu@iwate-u.ac.jp.
² Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Iwate University, 4 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate 020-8551, Japan.

PMID: 26079877
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.06.048

Abstract

The Caenorhabditis elegans R13A5.9 gene encodes a putative membrane protein with homologs in mammals. When the R13A5.9 protein was fused to different fluorescent proteins, signal was observed in or near synaptic vesicles; thus, we sought to determine whether this gene plays a role in synaptic vesicle formation, function, or exocytosis. R13A5.9 mutant worms exhibited low sensitivity to aldicarb (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor), which suggested that vesicular loading or release, or acetylcholine synthesis, was disrupted in these organisms. This was supported by the observation that an R13A5.9 mutant strain exhibited an excessive accumulation of synaptic vesicles. Collectively, these results suggest a functional role for R13A5.9 in synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

Keywords: Aldicarb resistance; C. elegans; R13A5.9; Synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics*
Exocytosis / genetics*
Genes, Helminth*
Mutation
Synaptic Vesicles / metabolism*

Grants and funding

P40 OD010440/OD/NIH HHS/United States