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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Studying Organelle Dynamics in B Cells During Immune Synapse Formation
Published on: June 1, 2019
Synapse Formation Activates a Transcriptional Program for Persistent Enhancement in the Bi-directional Transport of
Kerriann K Badal1, Komol Akhmedov2, Phillip Lamoureux3
1Department of Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute-Florida, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA; Integrative Biology PhD Program, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
Abstract:
Mechanisms that regulate the bi-directional transport of mitochondria in neurons for maintaining functional synaptic connections are poorly understood. Here, we show that in the pre-synaptic sensory neurons of the Aplysia gill withdrawal reflex, the formation of functional synapses leads to persistent enhancement in the flux of bi-directional mitochondrial transport. In the absence of a functional synapse, activation of cAMP signaling is sufficient to enhance bi-directional transport in sensory neurons. Furthermore, persistent enhancement in transport does not depend on NMDA and AMPA receptor signaling nor signaling from the post-synaptic neuronal cell body, but it is dependent on transcription and protein synthesis in the pre-synaptic neuron. We identified ∼4,000 differentially enriched transcripts in pre-synaptic neurons, suggesting a long-term change in the transcriptional program produced by synapse formation. These results provide insights into the regulation of bi-directional mitochondrial transport for synapse maintenance.
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