Practical Anatomy of the Neuromuscular Junction in Health and Disease

Abstract

Neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) form between nerve terminals of spinal cord motor neurons and skeletal muscles, and perisynaptic Schwann cells and kranocytes cap NMJs. One muscle fiber has one NMJ, which is innervated by one motor nerve terminal. NMJs are excitatory synapses that use P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channels to release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine receptors accumulate at the postsynaptic specialization called the end plate on the muscle fiber membrane, the sarcolemma. Proteins essential for the organization of end plates include agrin secreted from nerve terminals, Lrp4 and MuSK receptors for agrin, and Dok-7 and rapsyn cytosolic proteins in the muscle.

Keywords: Acetylcholine receptors; Active zone; Motor neuron; MuSK; Muscle; Neuromuscular junction; Voltage-gated calcium channels.