SYNAPSE MATURATION AND STRUCTURAL PLASTICITY AT DROSOPHILA NEUROMUSCULAR-JUNCTIONS

The Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction has recently emerged as a powerful model system to characterize the cellular and molecular even ts involved in the formation and flexibility of synapses. The combinat ion of molecular, genetic, electrophysiological and anatomical approac hes has revealed, for example, the functional significance of the disc s-large gene product (a novel synapse-organizing protein) in the nervo us system. This protein is involved in the clustering of at least one ion channel and in the structural modification of glutamatergic synaps es during target muscle growth. The manipulation of the genes encoding ion channels, components of second-messenger cascades, and cell adhes ion molecules is beginning to tease apart the mechanisms underlying st ructural synaptic plasticity.