In a presynaptic nerve terminal, the active zone is composed of sophisticated protein machinery that enables secretion on a submillisecond time scale and precisely targets it toward postsynaptic receptors. The past two decades have provided deep insight into the roles of active zone proteins in exocytosis, but we are only beginning to understand how a neuron assembles active zone protein complexes into effective molecular machines. In this review, we outline the fundamental processes that are necessary for active zone assembly and discuss recent advances in understanding assembly mechanisms that arise from genetic, morphological and biochemical studies. We further outline the challenges ahead for understanding this important problem.

中文翻译：

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突触前活动区的组装。

在突触前神经末梢，活动区由复杂的蛋白质机器组成，可以在亚毫秒时间尺度上分泌，并将其精确地瞄准突触后受体。过去的二十年已经深入了解了活性区蛋白在胞吐作用中的作用，但我们才刚刚开始了解神经元如何将活性区蛋白复合物组装成有效的分子机器。在这篇综述中，我们概述了活性区组装所必需的基本过程，并讨论了在理解遗传、形态学和生化研究中产生的组装机制方面的最新进展。我们进一步概述了理解这一重要问题所面临的挑战。