8.A.134.  The Vezatin (Vezatin) Family

Vezatin proteins play a pivotal role in the establishment of adherens junctions and their maintenance in adult life. They are required for morphogenesis of the preimplantation embryo, and for the implantation process (Hyenne et al. 2005). Vezatin and myosin VIIa are required for the entry of Listeria into epithelial cells (Sousa et al. 2004).

Key proteins, such as Vezatin, Agrin, Lrp4, and MuSK are required for the formation, subsequent maturation, and long-term stabilization of mammalian neuromuscular synapses. Additional molecules are thought to function selectively during the evolution and stabilization of these synapses. Vezatin, a two TMS protein, is an acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-associated protein, that binds directly to AChRs (Koppel et al. 2019). Vezatin is dispensable for the formation of synapses but plays a later role in the emergence of a topologically complex and branched shape of the synapse, and it stabilizes the AChRs. Neuromuscular synapses in vezatin mutant mice displayed premature signs of deterioration, normally found only during aging. Thus, vezatin has a selective role in the structural elaboration and postnatal maturation of murine neuromuscular synapses (Koppel et al. 2019).