Abstract
Synapses are fundamental for the formation of neural circuits in the brain and are essential for regulating higher brain functions such as learning, memory and emotions. Moreover, synapses exhibit a diversity of structures and functions across different brain regions. To gain a deeper understanding of complex brain functions and elucidate the pathological mechanisms underlying psychiatric and neurological disorders, it is crucial to characterize the protein components and distinctive molecular mechanisms specific to each synapse types. However, conventional biological approaches have struggled to spatially isolate specific synapses from different brain regions and comprehensively analyze their protein components. To address this challenge, biotin ligase‐based proximity labeling (BioID) has recently been applied to spatial proteome analysis in the brain, leading to the development of the “in vivo BioID (iBioID) ” technique. iBioID enables comprehensive proteome analysis of specific synapse types and synaptic clefts in the brain with high spatial resolution. In this brief review, we summarize recent advancements in iBioID‐based synaptic proteome techniques in the brain. Additionally, we introduce a novel molecular mechanism in astrocyte‐neuronal synapses using our newly developed iBioID technique.
