Axonal competition and synapse elimination during neuromuscular junction development

Identifier:  imarina:4123848

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina4123848

Authors:  Lanuza M; Tomàs J; Garcia N; Cilleros-Mañé V; Just-Borràs L; Tomás M

Abstract:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Early in development, each muscle fiber is innervated by multiple neurons. Different activities between nerve terminals on the same junction cause the elimination of all but one of them through Hebbian competition. The molecular basis of this developmental synapse modulation is still being investigated because it is a model for how the nervous system achieves the proper synaptic connectivity and function. The study of the vertebrate neuromuscular junction has proven useful to understand the carefully regulated process of axon withdrawal, locally regulated in the synaptic site by the nerve terminals themselves, the postsynaptic muscle cell and the Schwann cells. In this review, we summarize the multiple factors that have been implicated in axonal competition and synapse elimination.