Synaptogenesis: When Long-Distance Relations Become Intimate -- Synaptogenesis: When Long-Distance Relations Become Intimate -- Experimental Models of Synaptogenesis -- The Formation of the Vertebrate Neuromuscular Junction: Roles for the Extracellular Matrix in Synaptogenesis -- Synapse Formation between Identified Molluscan Neurons: A Model System Approach -- Development of the Drosophila and C. Elegans Neuromuscular Junctions -- Mechanisms That Regulate Neuronal Protein Clustering at the Synapse -- Roles of Cell Adhesion and Secreted Molecules in Synaptic Differentiation -- Cadherin-Mediated Adhesion and Signaling During Vertebrate Central Synapse Formation -- Synaptic Functions of the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule, NCAM -- Role of Neuroligin Binding to Neurexins in Synaptic Organization -- SynCAM in Formation and Function of Synaptic Specializations -- Protocadherins and Synapse Development -- Ephrins and Eph Receptors in Spinogenesis and Synaptic Plasticity -- Extracellular Matrix Molecules and Formation of CNS Synapses -- Role of Neurotrophins in the Formation and Maintenance of Synapses -- Transport of Synaptic Proteins -- Motor-Cargo Interactions Involved in Transport of Synaptic Proteins -- Postsynaptic Transport Packets -- Lateral Diffusion of Excitatory Neurotransmitter Receptors During Synaptogenesis -- Synaptic Cytoskeleton and Morphogenic Signaling -- Assembly of Presynaptic Active Zones -- Assembly of Postsynaptic Protein Complexes in Glutamatergic Synapses -- Regulation of Dendritic Spine Morphology and Synaptic Function By Scaffolding Proteins -- Composition and Assembly of Gabaergic Postsynaptic Specializations -- Role of Synaptogenesis in Morphologic Stabilization of Developing Dendrites -- Protein Kinases and Synaptogenesis -- Signaling from Synapse to Nucleus and Back -- Synaptic Plasticity in Learning and Memory -- Structural Synaptic Correlates of Learning and Memory -- Intracellular Trafficking of AMPA-Type Glutamate Receptors -- Learning-Induced Changes in Sensory Synaptic Transmission -- Synaptogenesis and Brain Disorders -- Relevance of Presynaptic Proteins to Neuropsychiatric Disorders -- Synaptic Abnormalities and Candidate Genes in Autism -- Synaptic Pathology in Depression -- Synaptic Pathology in Dementia -- A Fragile Synapse: Changes at the Synapse in Fragile X Syndrome -- Synaptic Abnormalities Associated with Huntington’s Disease -- Interference Peptides: A Novel Therapeutic Approach Targeting Synaptic Plasticity in Drug Addiction.

Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptogenesis is a compilation of recent exciting findings that summarizes the ever-expanding knowledge of how neuronal contacts develop in the normal brain and how their functions are affected in mental disorders. In the last decade, advances in molecular and cellular biology, combined with the development of sophisticated fluorescence microscopy tools to visualize synapses in live neurons, have revealed many intriguing and unexpected findings regarding the dynamics of synapse formation. Studies by a number of researchers have identified several critical protein components of synapses and shown the time course of their arrival at the synapse. Several molecules serve to hold the synaptic contacts between nerve cells and regulate their function. Imbalance in synaptic contact formation and function has been linked to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and mental retardation. The recent advances in basic research, summarized in Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptogenesis, may lay the necessary scientific groundwork to develop treatments targeting synaptogenesis, allowing us to improve the lives of people affected by brain disorders. This book will be an invaluable resource for neurobiologists taking their first steps in the expanding and exciting field of synaptogenesis.