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Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, 4(2012), p. pdb.prot068593-pdb.prot068593

DOI: 10.1101/pdb.prot068593

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In Vivo Imaging of the Drosophila Larval Neuromuscular Junction

Journal article published in 2012 by Till F. M. Andlauer ORCID, Stephan J. Sigrist
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

In the past decade, a significant number of proteins involved in the developmental assembly and maturation of synapses have been identified. However, detailed knowledge of the molecular processes underlying developmental synapse assembly is still sparse. We have developed an approach that makes extended in vivo imaging of selected proteins in live Drosophila larvae feasible at a single-synapse resolution. This protocol describes the repetitive, noninvasive imaging of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of a live, intact, anesthetized Drosophila larva over extended periods of time with confocal microscopy. Proteins of interest must be tagged with a fluorescent label and have to be expressed in transgenic fly strains. The method has proven highly useful for the study of synaptic assembly and the trafficking of proteins. These data contribute to our understanding of synaptic assembly under in vivo conditions.