Lai Kwok-On, Ip Nancy Y
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Neuroscience Center and Biotechnology Research Institute, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China.
J Neurocytol. 2003 Jun-Sep;32(5-8):727-41. doi: 10.1023/B:NEUR.0000020620.62318.01.
The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) represents the most well studied synapse and is widely regarded as structurally and functionally less complicated than neuronal synapses in the brain. Recent studies, however, have identified the localization and function of new signaling molecules at the NMJ. Surprisingly, many synaptic proteins previously identified in the brain are indeed also concentrated on the postsynaptic muscle side of the NMJ. These include the serine/threonine kinase Cdk5, the neurotrophin receptor TrkB, Eph receptors and ephrins, NMDA receptors and nitric oxide synthase, various PDZ-domain scaffold proteins, and beta-amyloid precursor protein. These observations indicate that the molecular composition of NMJ is much more intricate than we originally thought. The potential significance of these new signaling molecules at the NMJ will be discussed.
神经肌肉接头（NMJ）是研究最为深入的突触，人们普遍认为其在结构和功能上比大脑中的神经元突触更为简单。然而，最近的研究已经确定了NMJ处新信号分子的定位和功能。令人惊讶的是，许多先前在大脑中发现的突触蛋白确实也集中在NMJ的突触后肌肉一侧。这些蛋白包括丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶Cdk5、神经营养因子受体TrkB、Eph受体和ephrin、NMDA受体和一氧化氮合酶、各种PDZ结构域支架蛋白以及β-淀粉样前体蛋白。这些观察结果表明，NMJ的分子组成比我们最初认为的要复杂得多。本文将讨论这些新信号分子在NMJ处的潜在意义。
