{"title":"The <i>Drosophila</i> Larval Neuromuscular Junction: Developmental Overview.","authors":"James Ashley, Robert A Carrillo","doi":"10.1101/pdb.top108449","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>For decades, the <i>Drosophila</i> larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) has been a go-to model for synaptic development. This simple, accessible system is composed of a repeating pattern of 33 distinct neurons that stereotypically innervate 30 muscles. Fundamental mechanisms that underlie diverse aspects of axon pathfinding, synaptic form, and function have been uncovered at the NMJ, and new pathways continue to be uncovered. These discoveries are fueled by the ease of dissections and an extensive array of techniques. Chief among these techniques are various microscopy approaches, including super-resolution and electron microscopy. Functionally, the <i>Drosophila</i> NMJ is glutamatergic, similar to the vertebrate central synapses, making it a great model to study normal development and neurological diseases. Here we provide a brief overview of the larval neuromuscular system, highlighting the connectivity patterns, development, and some of the mechanisms underlying these processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":10496,"journal":{"name":"Cold Spring Harbor protocols","volume":" ","pages":"pdb.top108449"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cold Spring Harbor protocols","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.top108449","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
For decades, the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) has been a go-to model for synaptic development. This simple, accessible system is composed of a repeating pattern of 33 distinct neurons that stereotypically innervate 30 muscles. Fundamental mechanisms that underlie diverse aspects of axon pathfinding, synaptic form, and function have been uncovered at the NMJ, and new pathways continue to be uncovered. These discoveries are fueled by the ease of dissections and an extensive array of techniques. Chief among these techniques are various microscopy approaches, including super-resolution and electron microscopy. Functionally, the Drosophila NMJ is glutamatergic, similar to the vertebrate central synapses, making it a great model to study normal development and neurological diseases. Here we provide a brief overview of the larval neuromuscular system, highlighting the connectivity patterns, development, and some of the mechanisms underlying these processes.
Cold Spring Harbor protocolsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (all)
CiteScore
3.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
163
期刊介绍:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is renowned for its teaching of biomedical research techniques. For decades, participants in its celebrated, hands-on courses and users of its laboratory manuals have gained access to the most authoritative and reliable methods in molecular and cellular biology. Now that access has moved online. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols is an interdisciplinary journal providing a definitive source of research methods in cell, developmental and molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, protein science, computational biology, immunology, neuroscience and imaging. Each monthly issue details multiple essential methods—a mix of cutting-edge and well-established techniques.