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Activity-Dependent Synaptic Refinement: New Insights from Drosophila.

Fernando Vonhoff¹, Haig Keshishian¹

¹Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT, USA.

Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience

|May 10, 2017

Summary

Developing neurons prune extra connections using a novel, non-Hebbian mechanism in Drosophila. This process relies on low-frequency calcium oscillations to guide growth cones, ensuring precise neural wiring.

Keywords:

chemorepulsion neuromuscular junction non-Hebbian oscillation second messengers

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Two Algorithms for High-throughput and Multi-parametric Quantification of Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction Morphology

Two Algorithms for High-throughput and Multi-parametric Quantification of Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction Morphology

Published on: May 3, 2017

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Cellular Signaling

Background:

Neuronal development involves eliminating supernumerary synapses through activity-dependent mechanisms, often Hebbian.
Precise neural connectivity is crucial for proper nervous system function.
Drosophila melanogaster serves as a model system for studying conserved biological processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate a novel form of activity-dependent synaptic refinement in Drosophila.
To elucidate the role of low-frequency calcium oscillations in motoneuron growth cone guidance.
To explore potential conserved mechanisms of neural development across species.

Main Methods:

Observation of motoneuron growth cone behavior in Drosophila.
Analysis of presynaptic cytoplasmic calcium oscillations.
Investigation of chemotropic signaling pathways.

Main Results:

Drosophila employs a non-Hebbian mechanism for synapse pruning.
Low-frequency (<0.03 Hz) calcium oscillations regulate growth cone withdrawal from off-target contacts.
Motoneuron growth cones integrate multiple chemotropic signals in a time-regulated manner.

Conclusions:

A novel, low-frequency calcium oscillation-dependent mechanism refines synaptic connections in Drosophila.
This mechanism allows growth cones to evaluate and withdraw from inappropriate synaptic partners.
The underlying molecular pathways may be conserved in vertebrate neural development.