, 2011); and mouse anti-V5 (Invitrogen, 1:500). For immunofluorescence analyses, the following secondary antibodies were used: goat anti-mouse, rabbit, and rat F(ab′)2 fragments coupled to FITC (1:200), Cy3/DyLight549 (1:400) or Cy5/DyLight649 (1:200) (Jackson ImmunoResearch Bleomycin research buy Laboratories), as well as goat anti-mouse Alexa Fluor 568 (1:400; Invitrogen). As the V5 epitope was detectable using

anti-V5 antibody in western blots but not in cells or tissues, NetB was visualized using anti-NetB antibody. Images were collected using Zeiss/Bio-Rad Radiance2100, Leica TCS SP5II, and Zeiss LSM710 laser-scanning confocal microscopes. Immunofluorescence levels were determined using ImageJ; neurons were traced using Fiji Simple Neurite Tracer. For stainings shown in supplemental figures, see Supplemental Experimental Procedures. Detailed staining protocols are available upon request. We thank B. Altenhein, M. Brankatschk, B.J. Dickson, T. Hummel, C.H. Lee, R. Ueda, J.P. Vincent, the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center, the Drosophila Genomics Resource Center, the Vienna Drosophila RNAi Center, the Kyoto Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, the National Institute of Genetics Fly Stock Center, and the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank for fly strains, antibodies, and plasmids. We thank C. Desplan for sharing lGMR-Gal80 transgenic flies and H. Apitz, C. Chotard, L. Ferreira, and Z. Ludlow for contributions

to the MH-Gal4 screen. We are grateful to F. Guillemot, E. Ober, J.P. Vincent, as well as H. Apitz, D. Brierley, E. Richardson, B. Richier, and N. Shimosako for critical reading of the manuscript.

This work is supported by a Marie Everolimus ic50 Curie Intra-European Fellowship (to W.J.) and the Medical Research Council (U117581332). “
“Brain functions are made possible by synapses, contacts formed between neurons or between a neuron and a target cell. The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a cholinergic synapse between motoneurons and skeletal muscle fibers that has most, if not all, features characteristic of a chemical synapse in the brain. Because of its simplicity, high spatial resolution, and accessibility, the NMJ has served as an informative model of synaptogenesis (Sanes and Lichtman, 1999, Sanes and Lichtman, 2001 and Wu et al., 2010). Its development requires the precise coordination between presynaptic Resminostat motoneurons and postsynaptic muscle fibers. Mechanisms by which motoneurons instruct postsynaptic differentiation are better characterized, whereas relatively little is known about retrograde signals from the muscle fibers. Agrin is a nerve-derived organizer of postsynaptic differentiation during NMJ formation (McMahan, 1990). It stimulates AChR cluster formation in myotubes in culture (Ferns et al., 1993 and Nitkin et al., 1987) and mice lacking agrin do not form the NMJ (Gautam et al., 1996). MuSK is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is essential for agrin-induced clustering and for NMJ formation in vivo (DeChiara et al., 1996, Glass et al.