La Dolce Vita of Neurexin: Synaptic Partnerships through Glycosaminoglycans

Various neurexin transcripts are thought to serve as presynaptic “hub” molecules by binding to their specific synaptic partners. In this issue, Zhang et al. demonstrate that neurexins are heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans and that the HS modification is important for synaptic function in vitro and in vivo. These findings open up the possibility of many more binding partners for the neurexins. Various neurexin transcripts are thought to serve as presynaptic “hub” molecules by binding to their specific synaptic partners. In this issue, Zhang et al. demonstrate that neurexins are heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans and that the HS modification is important for synaptic function in vitro and in vivo. These findings open up the possibility of many more binding partners for the neurexins.