Faculty Opinions recommendation of Ultrafast endocytosis at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélien Roux
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions

The structure of the ventral nerve cord of Caenorhabditis elegans

1976 ◽  
Vol 275 (938) ◽  
pp. 327-348 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Synaptic Input ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Nerve Ring ◽  
Motor Neurone ◽  
The Body ◽  
Synaptic Activity ◽  
Linear Sequence ◽  
Motor Neurones ◽  
Longitudinal Fibre

The nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans is arranged as a series of fibre bundles which run along internal hypodermal ridges. Most of the sensory integration takes place in a ring of nerve fibres which is wrapped round the pharynx in the head. The body muscles in the head are innervated by motor neurones in this nerve ring while those in the lower part of the body are innervated by a set of motor neurones in a longitudinal fibre bundle which joins the nerve ring, the ventral cord. These motor neurones can be put into five classes on the basis of their morphology and synaptic input. At any one point along the cord only one member from each class has neuromuscular junctions. Members of a given class are arranged in a regular linear sequence in the cord and have non-overlapping fields of motor synaptic activity, the transition between fields of adjacent neurones being sharp and well defined. Members of a given class form gap junctions with neighbouring members of the same class but never to motor neurones of another class. Three of the motor neurone classes receive their synaptic input from a set of interneurones coming from the nerve ring. These interneurones can in turn be grouped into four classes and each of the three motor neurone classes receives its synaptic input from a unique combination of interneurone classes. The possible developmental and functional significance of these observations is discussed.

scholarly journals Ultrafast endocytosis at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions

eLife ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeki Watanabe ◽  
Qiang Liu ◽  
M Wayne Davis ◽  
Gunther Hollopeter ◽  
Nikita Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Synaptic Vesicles ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Light Stimulus ◽  
Single Stimulus ◽  
Vesicle Recycling ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies ◽  
Millisecond Time Scale ◽  
Intense Stimulation

Synaptic vesicles can be released at extremely high rates, which places an extraordinary demand on the recycling machinery. Previous ultrastructural studies of vesicle recycling were conducted in dissected preparations using an intense stimulation to maximize the probability of release. Here, a single light stimulus was applied to motor neurons in intact Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes expressing channelrhodopsin, and the animals rapidly frozen. We found that docked vesicles fuse along a broad active zone in response to a single stimulus, and are replenished with a time constant of about 2 s. Endocytosis occurs within 50 ms adjacent to the dense projection and after 1 s adjacent to adherens junctions. These studies suggest that synaptic vesicle endocytosis may occur on a millisecond time scale following a single physiological stimulus in the intact nervous system and is unlikely to conform to current models of endocytosis.

scholarly journals Author response: Ultrafast endocytosis at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeki Watanabe ◽  
Qiang Liu ◽  
M Wayne Davis ◽  
Gunther Hollopeter ◽  
Nikita Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Author Response

The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

1986 ◽  
Vol 314 (1165) ◽  
pp. 1-340 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Synaptic Connections ◽  
Serial Sections ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Invariant Structure ◽  
Parallel Processes ◽  
Total Complement ◽  
Chemical Synapses

The structure and connectivity of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been deduced from reconstructions of electron micrographs of serial sections. The hermaphrodite nervous system has a total complement of 302 neurons, which are arranged in an essentially invariant structure. Neurons with similar morphologies and connectivities have been grouped together into classes; there are 118 such classes. Neurons have simple morphologies with few, if any, branches. Processes from neurons run in defined positions within bundles of parallel processes, synaptic connections being made en passant . Process bundles are arranged longitudinally and circumferentially and are often adjacent to ridges of hypodermis. Neurons are generally highly locally connected, making synaptic connections with many of their neighbours. Muscle cells have arms that run out to process bundles containing motoneuron axons. Here they receive their synaptic input in defined regions along the surface of the bundles, where motoneuron axons reside. Most of the m orphologically identifiable synaptic connections in a typical animal are described. These consist of about 5000 chemical synapses, 2000 neuromuscular junctions and 600 gap junctions.

The Circuit for Chemotaxis and Exploratory Behavior in Caenorhabditis Elegans

2017 ◽  
pp. 369-376
Author(s):  
Cornelia I. Bargmann
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Sensory Neurons ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Wiring Diagram ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Section Electron ◽  
Adult Hermaphrodite ◽  
Electrophysiological Characterization

A wiring diagram of the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system was constructed from serial-section electron micrographs 30 years ago. This wiring diagram divides the 302 neurons in the nervous system of the adult hermaphrodite into three overall classes: sensory neurons, motor neurons that form neuromuscular junctions, and interneurons that connect sensory neurons with motor neurons. Most sensory neurons and interneurons belong to bilaterally symmetric pairs with similar connections and morphologies, while motor neurons belong to larger classes. The C. elegans nervous system presents an exceptional situation in which neuroanatomical connections are extremely well defined and reproducible among animals. These detailed anatomical studies and a parallel genetic attack have increasingly been joined by functional and electrophysiological characterization.

scholarly journals GABAergic synapses suppress intestinal innate immunity via insulin signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (20) ◽  
pp. e2021063118
Author(s):  
Zhongfan Zheng ◽  
Xiumei Zhang ◽  
Junqiang Liu ◽  
Ping He ◽  
Shan Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Innate Immunity ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Signaling Mechanism ◽  
Gabaergic Neurotransmission ◽  
Enhanced Resistance ◽  
Gabaergic Synapses

GABAergic neurotransmission constitutes a major inhibitory signaling mechanism that plays crucial roles in central nervous system physiology and immune cell immunomodulation. However, its roles in innate immunity remain unclear. Here, we report that deficiency in the GABAergic neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of Caenorhabditis elegans results in enhanced resistance to pathogens, whereas pathogen infection enhances the strength of GABAergic transmission. GABAergic synapses control innate immunity in a manner dependent on the FOXO/DAF-16 but not the p38/PMK-1 pathway. Our data reveal that the insulin-like peptide INS-31 level was dramatically decreased in the GABAergic NMJ GABAAR-deficient unc-49 mutant compared with wild-type animals. C. elegans with ins-31 knockdown or loss of function exhibited enhanced resistance to Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 exposure. INS-31 may act downstream of GABAergic NMJs and in body wall muscle to control intestinal innate immunity in a cell-nonautonomous manner. Our results reveal a signaling axis of synapse–muscular insulin–intestinal innate immunity in vivo.

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