Cdk5 and the mystery of synaptic vesicle endocytosis

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Abstract
Regulation of endocytosis by protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation is critical to synaptic vesicle recycling. Two groups have now identified the neuronal kinase Cdk5 (cyclin-dependent kinase 5) as an important regulator of this process. Robinson and coworkers recently demonstrated that Cdk5 is necessary for synaptic vesicle endocytosis (SVE) (Tan et al., 2003), whereas a new report in this issue claims that Cdk5 negatively regulates SVE (Tomizawa et al., 2003). Careful examination of the data reveals a model that helps resolve the apparently contradictory nature of these reports.