The Neuromuscular Junction in Health and Disease: Molecular Mechanisms Governing Synaptic Formation and Homeostasis.

ABSTRACT: The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a highly specialized synapse between a motor neuron nerve terminal and its muscle fiber that are responsible for converting electrical impulses generated by the motor neuron into electrical activity in the muscle fibers. On arrival of the motor nerve action potential, calcium enters the presynaptic terminal, which leads to the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh). ACh crosses the synaptic gap and binds to ACh receptors (AChRs) tightly clustered on the surface of the muscle fiber; this leads to the endplate potential which initiates the muscle action potential that results in muscle contraction. This is a simplified version of the events in neuromuscular transmission that take place within milliseconds, and are dependent on a tiny but highl

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez Cruz PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7744297 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature