Expanding views of presynaptic terminals: new findings from Caenorhabditis elegans.
The unique ability of chemical synapses to transmit information relies on the structural organization of presynaptic terminals. Empowered by forward genetics, research using Caenorhabditis elegans has continued to make pivotal contributions to discover conserved regulators and pathways for presynaptic development. Recent advances in microscopy have begun to pave the path for linking molecular dynamics with subsynaptic structures. Studies using diverse reporters for synapses further broaden the landscape of regulatory mechanisms underlying presynaptic differentiation. The identification of novel regulators at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels raises new questions for understanding synapse formation at the genomic scale.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Dong
D
Yan
Kentaro
K
Noma
Yishi
Y
Jin
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013569:Synapses / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014463:Ultrasonography
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins