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Hyperinnervation of neuromuscular junctions caused by GDNF overexpression in muscle
Q T Nguyen1, A S Parsadanian, W D Snider
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|March 28, 1998
Abstract:
Overexpression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) by muscle greatly increased the number of motor axons innervating neuromuscular junctions in neonatal mice. The extent of hyperinnervation correlated with the amount of GDNF expressed in four transgenic lines. Overexpression of GDNF by glia and overexpression of neurotrophin-3 and neurotrophin-4 in muscle did not cause hyperinnervation. Thus, increased amounts of GDNF in postsynaptic target cells can regulate the number of innervating axons.