The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Cristóvão, José Pedro Dias
Data de Publicação: 2017
Tipo de documento: Dissertação
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/20407
Resumo: ABSTRACT: Defects in synaptic morphology and activity-dependent plasticity are a hallmark of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Neuronal structure is critical for determining the properties of neurons, yet very little is known about the membrane dynamics that controls synaptic morphology. It is therefore critical to know the basic mechanisms by which neurons acquire their shape and change it in response to activity. This capacity of response is called synaptic plasticity, and allows modifications to be made in both pre- and post- synaptic elements of the synaptic terminal and their synapses. Given that synaptic plasticity is key for neurons to adapt to stimuli, it is important to study and understand the mechanisms by which it occurs and how defects can affect function. In this study, using the Drosophila neuromuscular junction as model, we show that activity-dependent formation of new presynaptic boutons is compromised when Ral and exocyst function is impaired, suggesting that this pathway plays a central role in structural plasticity. Ral GTPase is a small GTPase from the Ras superfamily and the exocyst is a conserved protein complex that is an effector for several GTPases, which, collectively might serve to control where, when and how, are vesicles targeted to a specific exocytic place. Dissecting the signaling cascade triggered by the Ral/Exocyst pathway will be key to understand how intracellular trafficking participates in this form of plasticity.
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spelling The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junctionDrosophilaNeurodegenerative DiseasesNeuronal PlasticityCiências MédicasABSTRACT: Defects in synaptic morphology and activity-dependent plasticity are a hallmark of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Neuronal structure is critical for determining the properties of neurons, yet very little is known about the membrane dynamics that controls synaptic morphology. It is therefore critical to know the basic mechanisms by which neurons acquire their shape and change it in response to activity. This capacity of response is called synaptic plasticity, and allows modifications to be made in both pre- and post- synaptic elements of the synaptic terminal and their synapses. Given that synaptic plasticity is key for neurons to adapt to stimuli, it is important to study and understand the mechanisms by which it occurs and how defects can affect function. In this study, using the Drosophila neuromuscular junction as model, we show that activity-dependent formation of new presynaptic boutons is compromised when Ral and exocyst function is impaired, suggesting that this pathway plays a central role in structural plasticity. Ral GTPase is a small GTPase from the Ras superfamily and the exocyst is a conserved protein complex that is an effector for several GTPases, which, collectively might serve to control where, when and how, are vesicles targeted to a specific exocytic place. Dissecting the signaling cascade triggered by the Ral/Exocyst pathway will be key to understand how intracellular trafficking participates in this form of plasticity.RESUMO: Alterações na morfologia sináptica e na plasticidade dependente de actividade têm sido um ponto crucial no estudo das perturbações no desenvolvimento neuronal e nas doenças neurodegenerativas. A estrutura neuronal é importante para definir as propriedades neuronais, no entanto pouco é sabido acerca de como a dinâmica membranar controla a morfologia sináptica. Deste modo, é necessário perceber os mecanismos básicos através dos quais os neurónios adquirem forma e de como a mudam em resposta a actividade. Esta capacidade de resposta é denominada de plasticidade sináptica e permite que sejam feitas modificações nos elementos pré- e pós- sinápticos dos terminais sinápticos e nas sinapses neles contidas. Sabendo que a plasticidade sináptica é um elemento chave na resposta dos neurónios a um estímulo, é importante estudar e perceber que mecanismos estão envolvidos e de que forma defeitos nesses mecanismos podem afectar a sua função. Neste estudo, recorrendo à junção neuromuscular de Drosophila melanogaster como modelo, é demonstrado que a formação de novos botões pré-sinápticos duma forma dependente de actividade é afectada quando existem defeitos na Ral ou no exocisto, sugerindo que a interacção entre estas proteínas é importante para a plasticidade estrutural. A Ral GTPase é uma pequena GTPase da superfamília das Ras GTPases, enquanto que o exocisto é um complexo proteico conservado que é um efetor de várias GTPases que pode controlar a maneira como as vesículas são exocitadas. Compreender a cascata de sinalização iniciada pela interacção entre a Ral e o exocisto poderá ser a chave para perceber como o tráfego intracelular participa neste tipo de plasticidade.Teodoro, Rita OliveiraRUNCristóvão, José Pedro Dias2020-04-01T00:30:33Z2017-02-242017-02-24T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesisapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10362/20407TID:201672383enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2024-03-11T04:04:40Zoai:run.unl.pt:10362/20407Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-20T03:26:11.697309Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
title The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
spellingShingle The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
Cristóvão, José Pedro Dias
Drosophila
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neuronal Plasticity
Ciências Médicas
title_short The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
title_full The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
title_fullStr The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
title_full_unstemmed The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
title_sort The role of the Ral/Exocyst pathway in structural plasticity at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction
author Cristóvão, José Pedro Dias
author_facet Cristóvão, José Pedro Dias
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Teodoro, Rita Oliveira
RUN
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Cristóvão, José Pedro Dias
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Drosophila
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neuronal Plasticity
Ciências Médicas
topic Drosophila
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neuronal Plasticity
Ciências Médicas
description ABSTRACT: Defects in synaptic morphology and activity-dependent plasticity are a hallmark of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Neuronal structure is critical for determining the properties of neurons, yet very little is known about the membrane dynamics that controls synaptic morphology. It is therefore critical to know the basic mechanisms by which neurons acquire their shape and change it in response to activity. This capacity of response is called synaptic plasticity, and allows modifications to be made in both pre- and post- synaptic elements of the synaptic terminal and their synapses. Given that synaptic plasticity is key for neurons to adapt to stimuli, it is important to study and understand the mechanisms by which it occurs and how defects can affect function. In this study, using the Drosophila neuromuscular junction as model, we show that activity-dependent formation of new presynaptic boutons is compromised when Ral and exocyst function is impaired, suggesting that this pathway plays a central role in structural plasticity. Ral GTPase is a small GTPase from the Ras superfamily and the exocyst is a conserved protein complex that is an effector for several GTPases, which, collectively might serve to control where, when and how, are vesicles targeted to a specific exocytic place. Dissecting the signaling cascade triggered by the Ral/Exocyst pathway will be key to understand how intracellular trafficking participates in this form of plasticity.
publishDate 2017
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2017-02-24
2017-02-24T00:00:00Z
2020-04-01T00:30:33Z
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis
format masterThesis
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dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10362/20407
TID:201672383
url http://hdl.handle.net/10362/20407
identifier_str_mv TID:201672383
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
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instacron:RCAAP
instname_str Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
instacron_str RCAAP
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reponame_str Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
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