Linking the synapse to the cytoskeleton: a breath-taking role for microfilaments.

Cytoskeletal elements, in particular microtubules and microfilaments, are essential players in a large variety of phenomena requiring cellular and intracellular motility. To name but a few, they are intimately involved in determining cell shape and adhesion, establishment and maintenance of polarity, locomotion and organelle transport in all eukaryotic cells, including neurons. Here, we would like to focus on the synapse in the vertebrate central nervous system, proposing a model for a specific dialogue between neuronal microfilaments and other protein components in neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity.