A protein implicated in some forms of autism is critical to the construction of a working synapse, locking neurons together like "molecular Velcro," a UC Davis study led by postdoctoral fellow Stephanie Barrow has found. Published online in Neural Development, the study also included groundbreaking images that show two neurons coming together using the protein neuroligin to construct a new synapse. Researchers had hypothesized that neuroligin could facilitate the recruitment of other proteins important in building synapses, but no one had been able to directly visualize the process. By fluorescently labeling neuroligin, PSD-95 and NMDA, critical to synapse formation, the researchers were able to see the process.