The control of vesicle-mediated transport in nerve cells is of great. importance in the function, development and maintenance of synapse. We. characterize a new Caenorhabditis elegans gene,
lnp-1, which is broadly. distributed in many neuronal structures. Lnp-1 localization is dependent of. the UNC-104/Kinesin protein. Deletion mutations in the
lnp-1 result in. increased resistance to aldicarb, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, and in. locomotor defects. However sensitivity to levamisole, a nicotinic agonist. that, unlike aldicarb, only affects postsynaptic function, was comparable. to wild-type animals, suggesting a presynaptic function of LNP-1 in. neurotransmission. The mislocalization of presynaptic proteins, such as. synaptobrevin-1 or RAB-3 in
lnp-1 mutants further supports this hypothesis.. In summary, our studies suggest that LNP-1 play a role in synaptogenesis by. regulating vesicular transport or localization.. Do not add objects such as pictures, boxes, headers, footers, footnotes,. etc.