QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online March 6, 2009
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/dev.027920

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Material Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kohsaka, H. Articles by Nose, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kohsaka, H. Articles by Nose, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Target recognition at the tips of postsynaptic filopodia: accumulation and function of Capricious

¹ Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8561, Japan.
² Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: nose{at}k.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

Accepted 23 January 2009

While much evidence suggests that postsynaptic dynamism contributes to the formation of synapses, few studies have addressed its possible role in target selection. Do postsynaptic motile structures seek specific synaptic partner cells, as does the presynaptic growth cone? Here we studied the dynamics of myopodia, postsynaptic filopodia in Drosophila muscles, and the role of Capricious (CAPS) during the process of synaptic matchmaking. CAPS is a target recognition molecule with an extracellular domain containing leucine-rich repeat sequences. It is expressed in specific subsets of embryonic/larval body wall muscles, including muscle 12 (M12). We provide evidence that implicates the tips of myopodia as loci of initial neuromuscular recognition: (1) CAPS, expressed as a GFP-fusion protein in M12, accumulated at the tips of myopodia; and (2) simultaneous live imaging of presynaptic motoneurons and postsynaptic myopodia revealed that initial neuromuscular contacts occur at the tips of myopodia. The live imaging also showed that individual postsynaptic myopodia appear to be able to discriminate partner and non-partner presynaptic cells: whereas many myopodial contacts with the partner motoneurons are stabilized to form synapses, those with non-partner neurons are retracted. In caps mutants, or in double mutants lacking both CAPS and the closely related protein Tartan, we observed fewer contacts between myopodia of M12 and the presynaptic growth cones during the process of initial neuromuscular interaction. The nascent synaptic sites of M12 were also reduced. These results provide evidence for the sensing function of postsynaptic filopodia, and implicate Caps-mediated recognition at the tips of myopodia in synaptic matching.

Key words: Target recognition, Postsynaptic filopodia, Capricious, Synaptogenesis

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Wayburn and T. Volk LRT, a tendon-specific leucine-rich repeat protein, promotes muscle-tendon targeting through its interaction with Robo Development, November 1, 2009; 136(21): 3607 - 3615. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Kohsaka and A. Nose Target recognition at the tips of postsynaptic filopodia: accumulation and function of Capricious J. Cell Sci., April 1, 2009; 122(7): e707 - e707. [Full Text]