DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEUROMUSCULAR-JUNCTION - GENETIC-ANALYSIS IN MICE

Formation of the skeletal neuromuscular junction is a multi-step proce ss that requires communication between the nerve and muscle. Studies i n many laboratories have led to identification of factors that seem li kely to mediate these interactions. 'Knock-out' mice have now been gen erated with mutations in several genes that encode candidate transsyna ptic messengers and components of their effector mechanisms. Using the se mice, it is possible to test hypotheses about the control of synapt ogenesis. Here, we review our studies on neuromuscular development in mutant mice lacking agrin alpha CGRP, rapsyn, MuSK, dystrophin, dystro brevin, utrophin, laminin alpha 5, laminin beta 2, collagen alpha 3 (I V), the acetylcholine receptor epsilon subunit, the collagenous tail o f acetylcholinesterase, fibroblast growth factor-5, the neural cell ad hesion molecule, and tenascin-C. ((C)Elsevier, Paris).