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Lookup NU author(s): Emeritus Professor Clarke Slater
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The commands that control animal movement are transmitted from motor neurons totheir target muscle cells at the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). The NMJs contain many proteinspecies whose role in transmission depends not only on their inherent properties, but also on howthey are distributed within the complex structure of the motor nerve terminal and the postsynapticmuscle membrane. These molecules mediate evoked chemical transmitter release from the nerveand the action of that transmitter on the muscle. Human NMJs are among the smallest known andrelease the smallest number of transmitter “quanta”. By contrast, they have the most deeply infoldedpostsynaptic membranes, which help to amplify transmitter action. The same structural features thatdistinguish human NMJs make them particularly susceptible to pathological processes. While muchhas been learned about the molecules which mediate transmitter release and action, little is knownabout the molecular processes that control the growth of the cellular and subcellular componentsof the NMJ so as to give rise to its mature form. A major challenge for molecular biologists is tounderstand the molecular basis for the development and maintenance of functionally importantaspects of NMJ structure, and thereby to point to new directions for treatment of diseases in whichneuromuscular transmission is impaired.
Author(s): Slater CR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Year: 2017
Volume: 18
Issue: 10
Pages: 2183
Online publication date: 19/10/2017
Acceptance date: 13/10/2017
Date deposited: 22/11/2017
ISSN (print): 1661-6596
ISSN (electronic): 1422-0067
Publisher: MDPI
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18102183
DOI: 10.3390/ijms18102183
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