--- _id: '9330' abstract: - lang: eng text: In nerve cells the genes encoding for α2δ subunits of voltage-gated calcium channels have been linked to synaptic functions and neurological disease. Here we show that α2δ subunits are essential for the formation and organization of glutamatergic synapses. Using a cellular α2δ subunit triple-knockout/knockdown model, we demonstrate a failure in presynaptic differentiation evidenced by defective presynaptic calcium channel clustering and calcium influx, smaller presynaptic active zones, and a strongly reduced accumulation of presynaptic vesicle-associated proteins (synapsin and vGLUT). The presynaptic defect is associated with the downscaling of postsynaptic AMPA receptors and the postsynaptic density. The role of α2δ isoforms as synaptic organizers is highly redundant, as each individual α2δ isoform can rescue presynaptic calcium channel trafficking and expression of synaptic proteins. Moreover, α2δ-2 and α2δ-3 with mutated metal ion-dependent adhesion sites can fully rescue presynaptic synapsin expression but only partially calcium channel trafficking, suggesting that the regulatory role of α2δ subunits is independent from its role as a calcium channel subunit. Our findings influence the current view on excitatory synapse formation. First, our study suggests that postsynaptic differentiation is secondary to presynaptic differentiation. Second, the dependence of presynaptic differentiation on α2δ implicates α2δ subunits as potential nucleation points for the organization of synapses. Finally, our results suggest that α2δ subunits act as transsynaptic organizers of glutamatergic synapses, thereby aligning the synaptic active zone with the postsynaptic density. acknowledged_ssus: - _id: EM-Fac acknowledgement: "We thank Arnold Schwartz for providing α2δ-1 knockout mice; Ariane Benedetti, Sabine Baumgartner, Sandra Demetz, and Irene Mahlknecht for technical support; Nadine Ortner and Andreas Lieb for electrophysiological experiments; the team of the Electron Microscopy Facility at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria for technical support related to ultrastructural analysis; Hermann Dietrich and Anja Beierfuß and her team for animal care; Jutta Engel and Jörg Striessnig for critical discussions; and Bruno Benedetti and Bernhard Flucher for critical discussions and reading the manuscript. This study was supported by Austrian Science Fund Grants P24079, F44060, F44150, and DOC30-B30 (to G.J.O.) and T855 (to M.C.), European Research Council Grant AdG 694539 (to R.S.), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft\r\nGrant SFB1348-TP A03 (to M.M.), and Interdisziplinäre Zentrum für Klinische Forschung Münster Grant Mi3/004/19 (to M.M.). This work is part of the PhD theses of C.L.S., S.M.G., and C.A." article_processing_charge: No article_type: original author: - first_name: Clemens L. full_name: Schöpf, Clemens L. last_name: Schöpf - first_name: Cornelia full_name: Ablinger, Cornelia last_name: Ablinger - first_name: Stefanie M. full_name: Geisler, Stefanie M. last_name: Geisler - first_name: Ruslan I. full_name: Stanika, Ruslan I. last_name: Stanika - first_name: Marta full_name: Campiglio, Marta last_name: Campiglio - first_name: Walter full_name: Kaufmann, Walter id: 3F99E422-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Kaufmann orcid: 0000-0001-9735-5315 - first_name: Benedikt full_name: Nimmervoll, Benedikt last_name: Nimmervoll - first_name: Bettina full_name: Schlick, Bettina last_name: Schlick - first_name: Johannes full_name: Brockhaus, Johannes last_name: Brockhaus - first_name: Markus full_name: Missler, Markus last_name: Missler - first_name: Ryuichi full_name: Shigemoto, Ryuichi id: 499F3ABC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Shigemoto orcid: 0000-0001-8761-9444 - first_name: Gerald J. full_name: Obermair, Gerald J. last_name: Obermair citation: ama: Schöpf CL, Ablinger C, Geisler SM, et al. Presynaptic α2δ subunits are key organizers of glutamatergic synapses. PNAS. 2021;118(14). doi:10.1073/pnas.1920827118 apa: Schöpf, C. L., Ablinger, C., Geisler, S. M., Stanika, R. I., Campiglio, M., Kaufmann, W., … Obermair, G. J. (2021). Presynaptic α2δ subunits are key organizers of glutamatergic synapses. PNAS. National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920827118 chicago: Schöpf, Clemens L., Cornelia Ablinger, Stefanie M. Geisler, Ruslan I. Stanika, Marta Campiglio, Walter Kaufmann, Benedikt Nimmervoll, et al. “Presynaptic Α2δ Subunits Are Key Organizers of Glutamatergic Synapses.” PNAS. National Academy of Sciences, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1920827118. ieee: C. L. Schöpf et al., “Presynaptic α2δ subunits are key organizers of glutamatergic synapses,” PNAS, vol. 118, no. 14. National Academy of Sciences, 2021. ista: Schöpf CL, Ablinger C, Geisler SM, Stanika RI, Campiglio M, Kaufmann W, Nimmervoll B, Schlick B, Brockhaus J, Missler M, Shigemoto R, Obermair GJ. 2021. Presynaptic α2δ subunits are key organizers of glutamatergic synapses. PNAS. 118(14). mla: Schöpf, Clemens L., et al. “Presynaptic Α2δ Subunits Are Key Organizers of Glutamatergic Synapses.” PNAS, vol. 118, no. 14, National Academy of Sciences, 2021, doi:10.1073/pnas.1920827118. short: C.L. Schöpf, C. Ablinger, S.M. Geisler, R.I. Stanika, M. Campiglio, W. Kaufmann, B. Nimmervoll, B. Schlick, J. Brockhaus, M. Missler, R. Shigemoto, G.J. Obermair, PNAS 118 (2021). date_created: 2021-04-18T22:01:40Z date_published: 2021-04-06T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-08-08T13:08:47Z day: '06' ddc: - '570' department: - _id: EM-Fac - _id: RySh doi: 10.1073/pnas.1920827118 ec_funded: 1 external_id: isi: - '000637398300002' file: - access_level: open_access checksum: dd014f68ae9d7d8d8fc4139a24e04506 content_type: application/pdf creator: dernst date_created: 2021-04-19T10:10:56Z date_updated: 2021-04-19T10:10:56Z file_id: '9340' file_name: 2021_PNAS_Schoepf.pdf file_size: 2603911 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2021-04-19T10:10:56Z has_accepted_license: '1' intvolume: ' 118' isi: 1 issue: '14' language: - iso: eng license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ month: '04' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version project: - _id: 25CA28EA-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '694539' name: 'In situ analysis of single channel subunit composition in neurons: physiological implication in synaptic plasticity and behaviour' publication: PNAS publication_identifier: eissn: - 1091-6490 publication_status: published publisher: National Academy of Sciences quality_controlled: '1' scopus_import: '1' status: public title: Presynaptic α2δ subunits are key organizers of glutamatergic synapses tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: journal_article user_id: 4359f0d1-fa6c-11eb-b949-802e58b17ae8 volume: 118 year: '2021' ...