Analyses of murine Postsynaptic Density-95 identify novel isoforms and potential translational control elements

Postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95) is an evolutionarily conserved synaptic adaptor protein that is known to bind many proteins including the NMDA receptor. This observation has implicated it in many NMDA receptor-dependent processes including spatial learning and synaptic plasticity. We have cloned and characterised the murine PSD-95 gene. In addition, we have identified two previously uncharacterised splice variants of the major murine PSD-95 transcript (PSD-95α): PSD-95α-2b results from an extension of exon 2 and PSD-95α-Δ18 from the temporal exclusion of exon 18. The presence of PSD-95α-2b sequences in other PSD-95 family members implicates this peptide stretch as functionally significant. Another potential transcript (PSD-95γ) was also identified based on examination of EST databases. Immunoprecipitation assays demonstrate that proteins corresponding in size to PSD-95α-Δ18 and PSD-95γ interact with the NMDA receptor, suggesting an important biological role for these isoforms. Finally, we have performed bioinformatics analyses of the PSD-95 mRNA untranslated regions, identifying multiple translational control elements that suggest protein production could be regulated post-transcriptionally. The variety of mRNA isoforms and regulatory elements identified provides for a high degree of diversity in the structure and function of PSD-95 proteins.