Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2025

Dissection of Single Skeletal Muscle Fibers for Immunofluorescent and Morphometric Analyses of Whole-Mount Neuromuscular Junctions
Published on: August 14, 2021
[Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Formation and Maintenance of Neuromuscular Junctions and Development of
Akane Inoue-Yamauchi1, Yuji Yamanashi
1Division of Genetics, Department of Cancer Biology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo.
Abstract:
Skeletal muscle is an essential organ for the motor functions and its defects are associated with functional impairments of other organs including brain. Muscle contraction is the fundamental skeletal muscle function and is strictly controlled by motor neuron, which requires neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a chemical synapse between motor nerve terminal and myotube (myofiber). Defects in NMJ cause various functional abnormalities of skeletal muscle including muscle weakness. This review presents an overview of the current understanding of signaling in NMJ formation and maintenance in skeletal muscle and the development of NMJ-targeted therapeutics.
Related Concept Videos
Neuromuscular Junction And Blockade
The Neuromuscular Junction
Nondepolarizing (Competitive) Neuromuscular Blockers: Mechanism of Action
Competitive antagonists prevent acetylcholine from binding to its receptor, inhibiting membrane depolarization. Without conformational changes or intrinsic...
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential reaches the axon terminal, it depolarizes the membrane and opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium ions enter the cell, further depolarizing the presynaptic membrane. This depolarization causes voltage-gated calcium channels to open....

