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Signaling mechanisms mediating synapse formation
Author(s) -
Wallace Bruce G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950181002
Subject(s) - agrin , postsynaptic potential , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , neuromuscular junction , synapse , receptor tyrosine kinase , neuroscience , signal transduction , receptor , genetics
Recent experiments have begun to decipher the molecular dialog that mediates differentiation at sites of synaptic between neurons and their targets. It had been hypothesized that the protein agrin is released by axon terminals at embryonic neuromuscular junctions and binds to a receptor on the myofiber surface to trigger postsynaptic differentiation. Now a genetic ‘Knockout’ experiment has confirmed the essential role of agrin in signaling between developing nerve and muscle (1) . A second ‘knockout’ has shown that the muscle‐specific receptor tyrosine kinase MuSK is a critical element in the agrin‐induced signaling cascade (2) . Additional results suggest that MuSK may comprise a portion of the agrin receptor (3) .