| First Author | DeChiara TM | Year | 1996 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 85 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 501-12 |
| PubMed ID | 8653786 | Mgi Jnum | J:33132 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:80613 | Doi | 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81251-9 |
| Citation | DeChiara TM, et al. (1996) The receptor tyrosine kinase MuSK is required for neuromuscular junction formation in vivo. Cell 85(4):501-12 |
| abstractText | Formation of neuromuscular synapses requires a series of inductive interactions between growing motor axons and differentiating muscle cells, culminating in the precise juxtaposition of a highly specialized nerve terminal with a complex molecular structure on the postsynaptic muscle surface. The receptors and signaling pathways mediating these inductive interactions are not known. We have generated mice with a targeted disruption of the gene encoding MuSK, a receptor tyrosine kinase selectively localized to the postsynaptic muscle surface. Neuromuscular synapses do not form in these mice, suggesting a failure in the induction of synapse formation. Together with the results of an accompanying manuscript, our findings indicate that MuSK responds to a critical nerve-derived signal (agrin), and in turn activates signaling cascades responsible for all aspects of synapse formation, including organization of the postsynaptic membrane, synapse-specific transcription, and presynaptic differentiation. |
