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Novel Functions For Neuronal Rna Processing Bodies In The Control Of Axon Terminal Growth In Drosophila Melanogaster, Sarala Joshi Pradhan
Novel Functions For Neuronal Rna Processing Bodies In The Control Of Axon Terminal Growth In Drosophila Melanogaster, Sarala Joshi Pradhan
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In this thesis we first characterized neuronal functions for HPat/Pat1, a core component of RNA processing bodies or "P bodies". We show that hpat mutants exhibit a strong synaptic hyperplasia at the developing and acutely stimulated Drosophila larval neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). The synaptic defects observed in hpat mutants are associated with rearrangement of the axonal microtubule cytoskeleton suggesting that HPat negatively regulates presynaptic microtubule-based growth during NMJ development. Interestingly, we also found that both pre-and postsynaptic HPat expression controlled rapid axon terminal growth in response to acute spaced synaptic stimulation. We also demonstrate that HPat interacts genetically with the catalytic …