Steen_2003_Trends.Neurosci_26_241

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.