Synaptic Adhesion Molecules and PSD-95

Synaptic adhesion molecules are known to participate in various steps of synapse development including initial contacts between dendrites and axons, formation of early synapses, and their maturation and plastic changes. Notably, a significant subset of synaptic adhesion molecules associates with synaptic scaffolding proteins, suggesting that they may act in concert to couple trans-synaptic adhesion to molecular organization of synaptic proteins. Here, we describe an emerging group of synaptic adhesion molecules that directly interact with the abundant postsynaptic scaffold PSD-95, which include neuroligins, NGLs, SALMs, and ADAM22, and discuss how these proteins and PSD-95 act together to regulate synaptic development. PSD-95 may be one of the central organizers of synaptic adhesion that recruits diverse proteins to sites of synaptic adhesion, promotes trans-synaptic signaling, and couples neuronal activity with changes in synaptic adhesion.