Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

0 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Neuromuscular Junction as an Entity of Nerve-Muscle Communication.

ABSTRACT: One of the crucial systems severely affected in several neuromuscular diseases is the loss of effective connection between muscle and nerve, leading to a pathological non-communication between the two tissues. The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) represents the critical region at the level of which muscle and nerve communicate. Defects in signal transmission between terminal nerve endings and muscle membrane is a common feature of several physio-pathologic conditions including aging and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Nevertheless, controversy exists on whether pathological events beginning at the NMJ precede or follow loss of motor units. In this review, the role of NMJ in the physio-pathologic interplay between muscle and nerve is discussed.

SUBMITTER: Lepore E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6721719 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Publications

Neuromuscular Junction as an Entity of Nerve-Muscle Communication.

Lepore Elisa E Casola Irene I Dobrowolny Gabriella G Musarò Antonio A

Cells 20190816 8

One of the crucial systems severely affected in several neuromuscular diseases is the loss of effective connection between muscle and nerve, leading to a pathological non-communication between the two tissues. The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) represents the critical region at the level of which muscle and nerve communicate. Defects in signal transmission between terminal nerve endings and muscle membrane is a common feature of several physio-pathologic conditions including aging and Amyotrophic ...[more]

PMID: 31426366

Similar Datasets

Neuromuscular Junction

Project description:NMJ Junction various time points normal C57BL10 LCM mRNA Keywords: other

2005-03-10 | GSE2394 | GEO

Skeletal muscle mTORC1 regulates neuromuscular junction stability.

Project description:BackgroundSkeletal muscle is a plastic tissue that can adapt to different stimuli. It is well established that Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) signalling is a key modulator in mediating increases in skeletal muscle mass and function. However, the role of mTORC1 signalling in adult skeletal muscle homeostasis is still not well defined.MethodsInducible, muscle-specific Raptor and mTOR k.o. mice were generated. Muscles at 1 and 7 months after deletion were analysed to assess muscle histology and muscle force.ResultsWe found no change in muscle size or contractile properties 1 month after deletion. Prolonging deletion of Raptor to 7 months, however, leads to a very marked phenotype characterized by weakness, muscle regeneration, mitochondrial dysfunction, and autophagy impairment. Unexpectedly, reduced mTOR signalling in muscle fibres is accompanied by the appearance of markers of fibre denervation, like the increased expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM). Both muscle-specific deletion of mTOR or Raptor, or the use of rapamycin, was sufficient to induce 3-8% of NCAM-positive fibres (P < 0.01), muscle fibrillation, and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) fragmentation in 24% of examined fibres (P < 0.001). Mechanistically, reactivation of autophagy with the small peptide Tat-beclin1 is sufficient to prevent mitochondrial dysfunction and the appearance of NCAM-positive fibres in Raptor k.o. muscles.ConclusionsOur study shows that mTOR signalling in skeletal muscle fibres is critical for maintaining proper fibre innervation, preserving the NMJ structure in both the muscle fibre and the motor neuron. In addition, considering the beneficial effects of exercise in most pathologies affecting the NMJ, our findings suggest that part of these beneficial effects of exercise are through the well-established activation of mTORC1 in skeletal muscle during and after exercise.

| S-EPMC7015238 | biostudies-literature

What is Normal? Neuromuscular junction reinnervation after nerve injury.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:In this study we present a reproducible technique to assess motor recovery after nerve injury via neuromuscular junction (NMJ) immunostaining and electrodiagnostic testing. METHODS:Wild-type mice underwent sciatic nerve transection with repair. Hindlimb muscles were collected for microscopy up to 30?weeks after injury. Immunostaining was used to assess axons (NF200), Schwann cells (S100), and motor endplates (?-bungarotoxin). Compound motor action potential (CMAP) amplitude was used to assess tibialis anterior (TA) function. RESULTS:One week after injury, nearly all (98.0%) endplates were denervated. At 8?weeks, endplates were either partially (28.3%) or fully (71.7%) reinnervated. At 16?weeks, NMJ reinnervation reached 87.3%. CMAP amplitude was 83% of naive mice at 16?weeks and correlated with percentage of fully reinnervated NMJs. Morphological differences were noted between injured and noninjured NMJs. DISCUSSION:We present a reproducible method for evaluating NMJ reinnervation. Electrodiagnostic data summarize NMJ recovery. Characterization of wild-type reinnervation provides important data for consideration in experimental design and interpretation.

| S-EPMC7092387 | biostudies-literature

Peripheral nerve and neuromuscular junction pathology in Pompe disease.

Project description:Pompe disease is a systemic metabolic disorder characterized by lack of acid-alpha glucosidase (GAA) resulting in ubiquitous lysosomal glycogen accumulation. Respiratory and ambulatory dysfunction are prominent features in patients with Pompe yet the mechanism defining the development of muscle weakness is currently unclear. Transgenic animal models of Pompe disease mirroring the patient phenotype have been invaluable in mechanistic and therapeutic study. Here, we demonstrate significant pathological alterations at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of the diaphragm and tibialis anterior muscle as prominent features of disease pathology in Gaa knockout mice. Postsynaptic defects including increased motor endplate area and fragmentation were readily observed in Gaa(-/-) but not wild-type mice. Presynaptic neuropathic changes were also evident, as demonstrated by significant reduction in the levels of neurofilament proteins, and alterations in axonal fiber diameter and myelin thickness within the sciatic and phrenic nerves. Our data suggest the loss of NMJ integrity is a primary contributor to the decline in respiratory and ambulatory function in Pompe and arises from both pre- and postsynaptic pathology. These observations highlight the importance of systemic phenotype correction, specifically restoration of GAA to skeletal muscle and the nervous system for treatment of Pompe disease.

| S-EPMC4291243 | biostudies-literature

Syne proteins anchor muscle nuclei at the neuromuscular junction.

Project description:Vertebrate skeletal muscle fibers contain hundreds of nuclei, of which three to six are functionally specialized and stably anchored beneath the postsynaptic membrane at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). The mechanisms that localize synaptic nuclei and the roles they play in neuromuscular development are unknown. Syne-1 is concentrated at the nuclear envelope of synaptic nuclei; its Caenorhabditis elegans orthologue ANC-1 functions to tether nuclei to the cytoskeleton. To test the involvement of Syne proteins in nuclear anchoring, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing the conserved C-terminal Klarsicht/ANC-1/Syne homology domain of Syne-1. The transgene acted in a dominant interfering fashion, displacing endogenous Syne-1 from the nuclear envelope. Muscle nuclei failed to aggregate at the NMJ in transgenic mice, demonstrating that localization and positioning of synaptic nuclei require Syne proteins. We then exploited this phenotype to show that synaptic nuclear aggregates are dispensable for maturation of the NMJ.

| S-EPMC555524 | biostudies-literature

Gut microbiota depletion delays peripheral nerve development and impairs neuromuscular junction maturation

Project description:Perturbance of gut microbiota (GM) composition has implications in onset and progression of an emerging number of diseases. Here we demonstrate a regulatory impact on proper development of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and its functional connection to skeletal muscles (SM). We analysed peripheral nerves, dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and SM of neonatal and adult mice that were raised as a) germ free (GF) mice, b) gnotobiotic mice, i.e. selectively colonised with 12 known gut bacteria (OMM12), or c) colonised with complex GM (CGM). Stereological and morphometrical analysis mainly revealed that absence of GM impairs the development of median nerves, resulting in smaller diameter hypermyelinated axons. Accordingly, transcriptomic analysis on DRG and sciatic nerves highlighted a panel of differentially expressed developmental and myelination genes. Moreover, GF mice demonstrated histologically atrophic SM, impaired formation of neuromuscular junctions, and deregulated expression of related genes. Our results, for the first time, imply the existence of a “GM-PNS-axis”.

2024-06-10 | GSE210649 | GEO

The role of muscle microRNAs in repairing the neuromuscular junction.

Project description:microRNAs have been implicated in mediating key aspects of skeletal muscle development and responses to diseases and injury. Recently, we demonstrated that a synaptically enriched microRNA, miR-206, functions to promote maintenance and repair of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ); in mutant mice lacking miR-206, reinnervation is impaired following nerve injury and loss of NMJs is accelerated in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, we asked whether other microRNAs play similar roles. One attractive candidate is miR-133b because it is in the same transcript that encodes miR-206. Like miR-206, miR-133b is concentrated near NMJs and induced after denervation. In miR-133b null mice, however, NMJ development is unaltered, reinnervation proceeds normally following nerve injury, and disease progression is unaffected in the SOD1(G93A) mouse model of ALS. To determine if miR-206 compensates for the loss of miR-133b, we generated mice lacking both microRNAs. The phenotype of these double mutants resembled that of miR-206 single mutants. Finally, we used conditional mutants of Dicer, an enzyme required for the maturation of most microRNAs, to generate mice in which microRNAs were depleted from skeletal muscle fibers postnatally, thus circumventing a requirement for microRNAs in embryonic muscle development. Reinnervation of muscle fibers following injury was impaired in these mice, but the defect was similar in magnitude to that observed in miR-206 mutants. Together, these results suggest that miR-206 is the major microRNA that regulates repair of the NMJ following nerve injury.

| S-EPMC3963997 | biostudies-literature

Exon array data from neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in mouse skeletal muscle.

Project description:The RNA from NMJ and non-NMJs samples were examined using microarray analysis with of identifying novel regulatory genes that are preferentially expressed in the synaptic regions of the isolated muscle fibers.

2019-12-12 | GSE92400 | GEO

Distinct roles of muscle and motoneuron LRP4 in neuromuscular junction formation.

Project description:Neuromuscular junction (NMJ) formation requires precise interaction between motoneurons and muscle fibers. LRP4 is a receptor of agrin that is thought to act in cis to stimulate MuSK in muscle fibers for postsynaptic differentiation. Here we dissected the roles of LRP4 in muscle fibers and motoneurons in NMJ formation by cell-specific mutation. Studies of muscle-specific mutants suggest that LRP4 is involved in deciding where to form AChR clusters in muscle fibers, postsynaptic differentiation, and axon terminal development. LRP4 in HEK293 cells increased synapsin or SV2 puncta in contacting axons of cocultured neurons, suggesting a synaptogenic function. Analysis of LRP4 muscle and motoneuron double mutants and mechanistic studies suggest that NMJ formation may also be regulated by LRP4 in motoneurons, which could serve as agrin's receptor in trans to induce AChR clusters. These observations uncovered distinct roles of LRP4 in motoneurons and muscles in NMJ development.

| S-EPMC3422364 | biostudies-literature

Muscle-derived collagen XIII regulates maturation of the skeletal neuromuscular junction.

Project description:Formation, maturation, stabilization, and functional efficacy of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) are orchestrated by transsynaptic and autocrine signals embedded within the synaptic cleft. Here, we demonstrate that collagen XIII, a nonfibrillar transmembrane collagen, is another such signal. We show that collagen XIII is expressed by muscle and its ectodomain can be proteolytically shed into the extracellular matrix. The collagen XIII protein was found present in the postsynaptic membrane and synaptic basement membrane. To identify a role for collagen XIII at the NMJ, mice were generated lacking this collagen. Morphological and ultrastructural analysis of the NMJ revealed incomplete adhesion of presynaptic and postsynaptic specializations in collagen XIII-deficient mice of both genders. Strikingly, Schwann cells erroneously enwrapped nerve terminals and invaginated into the synaptic cleft, resulting in a decreased contact surface for neurotransmission. Consistent with morphological findings, electrophysiological studies indicated both postsynaptic and presynaptic defects in Col13a1(-/-) mice, such as decreased amplitude of postsynaptic potentials, diminished probabilities of spontaneous release and reduced readily releasable neurotransmitter pool. To identify the role of collagen XIII at the NMJ, shed ectodomain of collagen XIII was applied to cultured myotubes, and it was found to advance acetylcholine receptor (AChR) cluster maturation. Together with the delay in AChR cluster development observed in collagen XIII-deficient mutants in vivo, these results suggest that collagen XIII plays an autocrine role in postsynaptic maturation of the NMJ. Altogether, the results presented here reveal that collagen XIII is a novel muscle-derived cue necessary for the maturation and function of the vertebrate NMJ.

| S-EPMC2955218 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data