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PMID: 8656281 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Homeostasis of synaptic transmission in Drosophila with genetically altered nerve terminal morphology.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience ·Vol. 16 ·No. 12 ·1996-06-15 ·Pages 3877-86

Stewart BA, Schuster CM, Goodman CS, Atwood HL

Abstract

We present a new test of the hypothesis that synaptic strength is directly related to nerve terminal morphology through analysis of synaptic transmission at Drosophila neuromuscular junctions with a genetically reduced number of nerve terminal varicosities. Synaptic transmission would decrease in target cells with fewer varicosities if there is a relationship between the number of varicosities and the strength of synaptic transmission. Animals that have an extreme hypomorphic allele of the gene for the cell adhesion molecule Fasciclin II possess fewer synapse-bearing nerve terminal varicosities; nevertheless, synaptic strength is maintained at a normal level for the muscle cell as a whole. Fewer failures of neurotransmitter release and larger excitatory junction potentials from individual varicosities, as well as more frequent spontaneous release and larger quantal units, provide evidence for enhancement of transmitter release from varicosities in the mutant. Ultrastructural analysis reveals that mutant nerve terminals have bigger synapses with more active zones per synapse, indicating that synaptic enlargement and an accompanying increase in synaptic complexity provide for more transmitter release at mutant varicosities. These results show that morphological parameters of transmitting nerve terminals can be adjusted to functionally compensate for genetic perturbations, thereby maintaining optimal synaptic transmission.

MeSH Terms
Animals Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal/analysis,genetics Drosophila/genetics Homeostasis/physiology Microscopy, Electron Muscles/cytology,innervation Mutation Nerve Fibers/physiology Neuromuscular Junction/chemistry,physiology,ultrastructure Presynaptic Terminals/physiology,ultrastructure Synapses/physiology,ultrastructure Synaptic Transmission/physiology
Chemicals
Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal fasciclin II
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Stewart B A
Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Schuster C M
Goodman C S
Atwood H L
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Abbr.
J Neurosci
ISSN
0270-6474
Published
1996-06-15
Pages
3877-86
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8102140
PMCID
PMC6578607
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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