Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.1.7 (acetylcholinesterase)
28,390 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Previous studies have indicated that the asymmetric form of acetylcholinesterase is localized in the basement membrane zone of the neuromuscular junction. We find that the collagenous subunit of the enzyme is required for interactions with basement membrane components. Acetylcholinesterase (the A12 form) binds best to the basement membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan and type V collagen, to a lesser extent to laminin, fibronectin, and type I collagen, but not to type IV collagen. In addition, the purified A12 enzyme as prepared from electric eel is associated with a heparan sulfate-like component which appears to be responsible for the aggregation of the enzyme at low ionic strength. We observed that the purified form of the enzyme reacted with antibodies to type V collagen, and to a lesser extent with anti-type I collagen antibody, but not with anti-type IV collagen antibody. These data suggest that the collagenous subunit of the enzyme may have some similarity to type V collagen and that the interaction of the collagenous subunit with a heparan sulfate proteoglycan may be involved in its binding to basement membrane in the neuromuscular junction.
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PMID:Interactions of asymmetric forms of acetylcholinesterase with basement membrane components. 686 10

Formation of the synaptic basal lamina at vertebrate neuromuscular junction involves the accumulation of numerous specialized extracellular matrix molecules including a specific form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), the collagenic-tailed form. The mechanisms responsible for its localization at sites of nerve- muscle contact are not well understood. To understand synaptic AChE localization, we synthesized a fluorescent conjugate of fasciculin 2, a snake alpha-neurotoxin that tightly binds to the catalytic subunit. Prelabeling AChE on the surface of Xenopus muscle cells revealed that preexisting AChE molecules could be recruited to form clusters that colocalize with acetylcholine receptors at sites of nerve-muscle contact. Likewise, purified avian AChE with collagen-like tail, when transplanted to Xenopus muscle cells before the addition of nerves, also accumulated at sites of nerve-muscle contact. Using exogenous avian AChE as a marker, we show that the collagenic-tailed form of the enzyme binds to the heparan-sulfate proteoglycan perlecan, which in turn binds to the dystroglycan complex through alpha-dystroglycan. Therefore, the dystroglycan-perlecan complex serves as a cell surface acceptor for AChE, enabling it to be clustered at the synapse by lateral migration within the plane of the membrane. A similar mechanism may underlie the initial formation of all specialized basal lamina interposed between other cell types.
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PMID:Acetylcholinesterase clustering at the neuromuscular junction involves perlecan and dystroglycan. 1033 Apr 16

The dystrophin-associated protein (DAP) complex spans the sarcolemmal membrane linking the cytoskeleton to the basement membrane surrounding each myofiber. Defects in the DAP complex have been linked previously to a variety of muscular dystrophies. Other evidence points to a role for the DAP complex in formation of nerve-muscle synapses. We show that myotubes differentiated from dystroglycan-/- embryonic stem cells are responsive to agrin, but produce acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters which are two to three times larger in area, about half as dense, and significantly less stable than those on dystroglycan+/+ myotubes. AChRs at neuromuscular junctions are similarly affected in dystroglycan-deficient chimeric mice and there is a coordinate increase in nerve terminal size at these junctions. In culture and in vivo the absence of dystroglycan disrupts the localization to AChR clusters of laminin, perlecan, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), but not rapsyn or agrin. Treatment of myotubes in culture with laminin induces AChR clusters on dystroglycan+/+, but not -/- myotubes. These results suggest that dystroglycan is essential for the assembly of a synaptic basement membrane, most notably by localizing AChE through its binding to perlecan. In addition, they suggest that dystroglycan functions in the organization and stabilization of AChR clusters, which appear to be mediated through its binding of laminin.
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PMID:The dystroglycan complex is necessary for stabilization of acetylcholine receptor clusters at neuromuscular junctions and formation of the synaptic basement membrane. 1115 73

The collagen-tailed form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is concentrated at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction (NMJ), where it is responsible for rapidly terminating neurotransmission. This unique oligomeric form of AChE, consisting of three tetramers covalently attached to a collagen-like tail, is more highly expressed in innervated regions of skeletal muscle fibers, where it is externalized and attached to the synaptic basal lamina interposed between the nerve terminal and the receptor-rich postsynaptic membrane. Although it is clear that the enzyme is preferentially synthesized in regions of muscle contacted by the motoneuron, the molecular events underlying its localization to the NMJ are not known. Here we show that perlecan, a multifunctional heparan sulfate proteoglycan concentrated at the NMJ, is the unique acceptor molecule for collagen-tailed AChE at sites of nerve-muscle contact and is the principal mechanism for localizing AChE to the synaptic basal lamina.
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PMID:Absence of acetylcholinesterase at the neuromuscular junctions of perlecan-null mice. 1180 74

Efficient and accurate synaptic transmission requires proper localization of numerous signaling proteins in the synaptic membrane. At the neuromuscular junction, the nicotinic ACh receptor mediates postsynaptic depolarization, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) terminates this process by hydrolyzing ACh. The mechanism by which the nerve directs receptor localization is understood in considerable detail; AChE clustering, by contrast, has received much less attention. Now, in a recent paper in Nature Neuroscience, the laboratories of Yoshiko Yamada and Richard Rotundo report that AChE clustering at the postsynaptic membrane requires perlecan, which binds both AChE and dystroglycan.
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PMID:PerleCan fix your muscle AChEs. 1274 39

The collagen-tailed form of acetylcholinesterase (A(12)-AChE) appears to be localized at the neuromuscular junction in association with the transmembrane dystroglycan complex through binding of its collagenic tail (ColQ) to the proteoglycan perlecan. The heparan sulfate binding domains (HSBD) of ColQ are thought to be involved in anchoring ColQ to the synaptic basal lamina. The C-terminal domain (CTD) of ColQ is also likely involved, but there has been no direct evidence. Mutations in COLQ cause endplate AChE deficiency in humans. Nine previously reported and three novel mutations are in CTD of ColQ, and most CTD mutations do not abrogate formation of A(12)-AChE in transfected COS cells. Patient endplates, however, are devoid of AChE, suggesting that CTD mutations affect anchoring of ColQ to the synaptic basal lamina. Based on our observations that purified AChE can be transplanted to the heterologous frog neuromuscular junction, we tested insertion competence of nine naturally occurring CTD mutants and two artificial HSBD mutants. Wild-type human A(12)-AChE inserted into the frog neuromuscular junction, whereas six CTD mutants and two HSBD mutants did not. Our studies establish that the CTD mutations indeed compromise anchoring of ColQ and that both HSBD and CTD are essential for anchoring ColQ to the synaptic basal lamina.
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PMID:C-terminal and heparin-binding domains of collagenic tail subunit are both essential for anchoring acetylcholinesterase at the synapse. 1470 51

At the neuromuscular junction, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is mainly present as asymmetric forms in which tetramers of catalytic subunits are associated to a specific collagen, collagen Q (ColQ). The accumulation of the enzyme in the synaptic basal lamina strictly relies on ColQ. This has been shown to be mediated by interaction between ColQ and perlecan, which itself binds dystroglycan. Here, using transfected mutants of ColQ in a ColQ-deficient muscle cell line or COS-7 cells, we report that ColQ clusterizes through a more complex mechanism. This process requires two heparin-binding sites contained in the collagen domain as well as the COOH terminus of ColQ. Cross-linking and immunoprecipitation experiments in Torpedo postsynaptic membranes together with transfection experiments with muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) constructs in MuSK-deficient myotubes or COS-7 cells provide the first evidence that ColQ binds MuSK. Together, our data suggest that a ternary complex containing ColQ, perlecan, and MuSK is required for AChE clustering and support the notion that MuSK dictates AChE synaptic localization at the neuromuscular junction.
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PMID:MuSK is required for anchoring acetylcholinesterase at the neuromuscular junction. 1515 18

The expression of the synaptic asymmetric form of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) depends of two different genes: the gene that encodes for the catalytic subunit and the gene that encodes for the collagenic tail, ColQ. Asymmetric AChE is specifically localized to the basal lamina at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). This highly organized distribution pattern suggests the existence of one or more specific binding sites in ColQ required for its anchorage to the synaptic basal lamina. Recent evidence support this notion: first, the presence of two heparin-binding domains in ColQ that interact with heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) at the synaptic basal lamina; and second, a knockout mouse for perlecan, a HSPG concentrated in nerve-muscle contact, in which absence of asymmetric AChE at the NMJ is observed. The physiological importance of collagen-tailed AChE form in skeletal muscle has been illustrated by the identification of several mutations in the ColQ gene. These mutations determine end-plate acetylcholinesterase deficiency and induce one type of synaptic functional disorders observed in Congenital Myasthenic Syndromes (CMSs).
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PMID:Structural and functional organization of synaptic acetylcholinesterase. 1557 65

Two proteins, ColQ and PRiMA, organize tetramers of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) through peptide interactions. A short proline rich sequence in the N-terminal domain of ColQ or PRiMA associates four C-terminal extension of AChE or BChE. ColQ targets the enzymes in the basal lamina, PRiMA targets the enzymes at the plasma membrane. These complexes represent the mature proteins. The unassembled C-terminal extention of AChE is the key determinant recognized during the "quality control" of protein synthesis. Unassembled catalytic subunits are then degraded by the proteasome pathway. At the neuromuscular junction, ColQ/AChE represents the concentrated enzyme. The clusterisation of AChE depends upon ColQ through three sites of interactions: two different heparin binding domains in the collagen domain interact with heparan sulfate proteoglycan particularly the perlecan and the C-terminal non collagenic domain interacts with MuSK, the tyrosine kinase receptor organiser of the neuromuscular junction. The absence of ColQ and AChE has revealed that the excess of Ach stimulates more nicotinic receptors but probably not until their desensitization. Several morphological modifications may help the clearance of Ach. Conversely the synapse transmission fails during high frequency nerve stimulation.
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PMID:[Cholinesterases: anchored enzymes in membranes and basal laminae]. 1611 64

The collagen-tailed form of acetylcholinesterase (ColQ-AChE) is the major if not unique form of the enzyme associated with the specialized synaptic basal lamina at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). This enzyme form consists of both catalytic and non-catalytic subunits encoded by separate genes, assembled as three enzymatic tetramers attached to the three-stranded collagen-like tail. We have previously shown that catalytic subunits are assembled in the rough endoplasmic reticulum and that after approximately 90min a subset of these tetramers assemble with collagenic tail subunits in the Golgi apparatus. In muscle, blocking ER to Golgi transport with Brefeldin A prevents the appearance of ColQ-AChE, consistent with assembly of asymmetric forms in the Golgi. Moreover, newly synthesized and assembled ColQ-AChE associates with perlecan intracellularly and can only be co-immunoprecipitated with anti-perlecan antibodies 90min after the first appearance of catalytic subunits. Once assembled, the ColQ-AChE/perlecan complex is externalized where it co-localizes with other components of the NMJ including dystroglycan, rapsyn, laminin and MuSK. These clusters tend to form over the nuclei that are expressing the components, suggesting local vectorial transport to the cell surface, and may form a primary scaffold that in turn can capture other molecular constituents of the neuromuscular synapse. While most AChE clusters on quail myotubes are devoid of acetylcholine receptors, treatment of the culture with recombinant agrin results in a rapid translocation of receptors to the AChE clusters in less than 4h. It remains to be determined if MuSK is localized to the clusters. In vivo, AChE transcripts and enzyme are more highly expressed at the NMJs, implying higher rates of AChE translation and assembly in the synaptic regions, and hence more ColQ-AChE for localized export. We have previously shown that binding sites for ColQ-AChE are concentrated at sites of nerve-muscle contact where they colocalize with AChR and perlecan. ColQ-AChE binds directly to perlecan using solid phase microtiter plate assay, the Biacore assay, and co-immunoprecipitations. Moreover, perlecan binds to dystroglycan at the NMJ. In perlecan or dystroglycan null mice there is no accumulation of AChE at the NMJ, supporting the hypothesis that this heparan sulfate proteoglycan is an essential component of the ColQ-AChE localization mechanism. Together, these studies suggest a model of synaptic development whereby AChE can be targeted to and clustered on the muscle membrane together with dystroglycan and perlecan to form scaffolds to which AChR can be clustered through activation of the MuSK receptor. At mature synapses ColQ-AChE is secreted directly into the synaptic cleft where it binds to the heparan sulfate proteoglycan perlecan as well as potentially other molecules including MuSK, as was recently reported.
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PMID:Targeting acetylcholinesterase to the neuromuscular synapse. 1628 17


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