New research publication: insights into how nerve-muscle connections develop
Apr 2025: A team of researchers led by Prof Tom Gillingwater's laboratory at the University of Edinburgh, have uncovered the complex series of molecular changes that occur in motor neurons around the time of birth.
The team of researchers collaborated with colleagues from Utrecht and Trento to investigate the molecular changes that occur during the process known as synapse elimination. This developmental process sculpts and refines connections between nerve and muscle at sites known as neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). The researchers have revealed rapid and dynamic changes in new protein production within motor neurons, regulated via the process of translation. The research provides a foundation from which to explore the physiology of normal neuromuscular development and may provide clues to the pathophysiology of neuromuscular disease.
The paper has been published in the journal Science Signaling: Dynamic modulation of the motor neuron translatome during developmental synapse elimination (external website).
Related links
Prof Tom Gillingwater's profile
Explore Prof Tom Gillingwater's research: Developing new therapies for motor neuron disease (SMA and ALS)
Image courtesy of Science Signaling.
Confocal micrograph by Dr Helena Chaytow, University of Edinburgh.