TY - JOUR
T1 - Glial cells maintain synaptic structure and function and promote development of the neuromuscular junction in vivo
AU - Reddy, Linga V.
AU - Koirala, Samir
AU - Sugiura, Yoshie
AU - Herrera, Albert A.
AU - Ko, Chien Ping
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Drs. L. Byerly and M. Quick and to members of our laboratory, G. Cao, J.F. Yang, and Z. Feng, for their critical comments. We also thank Z. Feng for providing Schwann cell cultures; J.F. Yang for help with figures and for creating the schematic diagram; A. Thompson for assistance with electron microscopy; and C. Koirala for technical support. This work was supported by NIH grant NS017954 and a Muscular Dystrophy Association research grant to C.-P.K.
PY - 2003/10/30
Y1 - 2003/10/30
N2 - To investigate the in vivo role of glial cells in synaptic function, maintenance, and development, we have developed an approach to selectively ablate perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs), the glial cells at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), en masse from live frog muscles. In adults, following acute PSC ablation, synaptic structure and function were not altered. However, 1 week after PSC ablation, presynaptic function decreased by approximately half, while postsynaptic function was unchanged. Retraction of nerve terminals increased over 10-fold at PSC-ablated NMJs. Furthermore, nerve-evoked muscle twitch tension was reduced. In tadpoles, repeated in vivo observations revealed that PSC processes lead nerve terminal growth. In the absence of PSCs, growth and addition of synapses was dramatically reduced, and existing synapses underwent widespread retraction. Our findings provide in vivo evidence that glial cells maintain presynaptic structure and function at adult synapses and are vital for the growth and stability of developing synapses.
AB - To investigate the in vivo role of glial cells in synaptic function, maintenance, and development, we have developed an approach to selectively ablate perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs), the glial cells at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), en masse from live frog muscles. In adults, following acute PSC ablation, synaptic structure and function were not altered. However, 1 week after PSC ablation, presynaptic function decreased by approximately half, while postsynaptic function was unchanged. Retraction of nerve terminals increased over 10-fold at PSC-ablated NMJs. Furthermore, nerve-evoked muscle twitch tension was reduced. In tadpoles, repeated in vivo observations revealed that PSC processes lead nerve terminal growth. In the absence of PSCs, growth and addition of synapses was dramatically reduced, and existing synapses underwent widespread retraction. Our findings provide in vivo evidence that glial cells maintain presynaptic structure and function at adult synapses and are vital for the growth and stability of developing synapses.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00682-2
DO - 10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00682-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 14642280
AN - SCOPUS:0345119040
SN - 0896-6273
VL - 40
SP - 563
EP - 580
JO - Neuron
JF - Neuron
IS - 3
ER -