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Link to original content: https://doi.org/10.1038/79833
Postsynaptic filopodia in muscle cells interact with innervating motoneuron axons | Nature Neuroscience
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Postsynaptic filopodia in muscle cells interact with innervating motoneuron axons

Nature Neuroscience volume 3, pages 1012–1017 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Precise synaptogenesis is crucial to brain development, and depends on the ability of specific partner cells to locate and communicate with one another. Dynamic properties of axonal filopodia during synaptic targeting are well documented, but the cytomorphological dynamics of postsynaptic cells have received less attention. In Drosophila embryos, muscle cells bear numerous postsynaptic filopodia (‘myopodia’) during motoneuron targeting. Here we show that myopodia are actin-filled microprocesses, which progressively clustered at the site of motoneuron innervation while intermingling with presynaptic filopodia. In prospero mutants, which have severe delays in axon outgrowth from the CNS, myopodia were present initially but clustering behavior was not observed, demonstrating that clustering depends on innervating axons. Thus, postsynaptic filopodia are capable of intimate interaction with innervating presynaptic axons. We propose that, by contributing to direct long-distance cellular communication, they are dynamically involved in synaptic matchmaking.

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Figure 1: Myopodia extend from muscle cells.
Figure 2: Coincidence of myopodia clustering and innervation.
Figure 3: Dependence of myopodia clustering on axons.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Vladislav Verkusha and Hiroki Oda (University of Kyoto), Andrea Brand (Cambridge University) and Chris Doe (University of Oregon) for gifts of fly stocks, Mike Kim and Xiaomao Zhu (University of Illinois) for help with data collection and Tom Kornberg and Felipe Ramirez-Weber (UCSF), Jim Campanelli (University of Illinois) and members of the Chiba lab for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from CREST JST (E.S.) and from NIH, NSF and the Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust (A.C.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Structural Biology, University of Illinois, B605 CLS Laboratory, 601 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Sarah Ritzenthaler & Akira Chiba

  2. Department of Fine Morphology, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 108-8639

    Emiko Suzuki

  3. CREST, JST, Japan

    Emiko Suzuki

  4. Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, B605 CLS Laboratory, 601 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Akira Chiba

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  1. Sarah Ritzenthaler
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Correspondence to Akira Chiba.

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Ritzenthaler, S., Suzuki, E. & Chiba, A. Postsynaptic filopodia in muscle cells interact with innervating motoneuron axons. Nat Neurosci 3, 1012–1017 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/79833

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