Drosophila synapse formation: regulation by transmembrane protein with Leu-rich repeats, CAPRICIOUS.
Upon reaching the target region, neuronal growth cones transiently search through potential targets and form synaptic connections with only a subset of these. The capricious (caps) gene may regulate these processes in Drosophila. caps encodes a transmembrane protein with leucine-rich repeats (LRRs). During the formation of neuromuscular synapses, caps is expressed in a small number of synaptic partners, including muscle 12 and the motorneurons that innervate it. Loss-of-function and ectopic expression of caps alter the target specificity of muscle 12 motorneurons, indicating a role for caps in selective synapse formation.
Shishido
E
E
National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
Takeichi
M
M
Nose
A
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D015870:Gene Expression; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009132:Muscles / Q000294:innervation / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C113006:caps protein, Drosophila