Temporal regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits supports central cholinergic synapse development in <i>Drosophila</i>
Justin Rosenthal, Jun Yin, Jingce Lei, Anupama Sathyamurthy, Jacob Short, Caixia Long, Emma Spillman, Chengyu Sheng, Quan Yuan
Abstract
Significance Cholinergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system contributes immensely to animal behavior and is linked to a multitude of neuropsychiatric disorders in humans. However, in contrast to the well-established role of glutamate receptor signaling in the developing brain, it remains unclear whether neurotransmission mediated by acetylcholine receptors is also a major effector in neural development and plasticity. Here, we address this question in the Drosophila system, where most central excitatory synapses use acetylcholine as the main neurotransmitter. Our genetic studies reveal the distinct functions and developmental control of two specific nAchR subunits, Dα1 and Dα6 , and illustrate how the temporal regulation of these subunits contributes to the structural and functional maturation of the cholinergic postsynaptic apparatus in the fly brain.