Temporal regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits supports central cholinergic synapse development in <i>Drosophila</i>.

ABSTRACT: The construction and maturation of the postsynaptic apparatus are crucial for synapse and dendrite development. The fundamental mechanisms underlying these processes are most often studied in glutamatergic central synapses in vertebrates. Whether the same principles apply to excitatory cholinergic synapses, such as those found in the insect central nervous system, is not known. To address this question, we investigated a group of projection neurons in the Drosophila larval visual system, the ventral lateral neurons (LNvs), and identified nAchRα1 (Dα1) and nAchRα6 (Dα6) as the main functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) subunits in the larval LNvs. Using morphological analyses and calcium imaging studies, we demonstrated critical roles of these two subunits

SUBMITTER: Rosenthal JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8202021 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature