TY - JOUR T1 - Terminal Schwann Cells Lead Synapse Remodelling following Injury JF - eneuro JO - eneuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0028-14.2014 VL - 1 IS - 1 SP - ENEURO.0028-14.2014 AU - Zarin Zainul Y1 - 2014/11/01 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/1/1/ENEURO.0028-14.2014.abstract N2 - This commentary article describes the importance and significance of the article recently published by the Kang and colleagues in The Journal of Neuroscience in 2014. Kang and colleagues provided new features of injury induced synapse remodelling. This commentary article summarizes the important findings of Kang and colleagues with the appropriate commentary. In addition to the article by Kang and colleagues, many other very exciting and recent studies about synapse remodelling in peripheral and central nervous system have also been included.Although the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of adult animals are stable in their structure, the structure of the synapse may alter under certain circumstances: on account of development, aging (Kang and Lichtman, 2013), disease, and reinnervation after injury (Rich and Lichtman, 1989). Axon regeneration in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) after injury is well known, and is greatly supported and served by Schwann cells (SCs), glial cells in the PNS. Terminal Schwann cells (TSCs) that cover motor nerve terminals are known to extend their processes and lead regenerating nerve terminals to reinnervate adjacent postsynaptic sites after injury. Once the axons have been restored to their synaptic sites, remodeling of the contacts takes place. Structural changes in the synaptic site after reinnervation are associated with the speed of reinnervation. Fast reinnervation leads to modest remodeling, whereas delayed reinnervation results in more structural changes at the synapse (Rich and Lichtman, 1989). Important questions in all these events are how TSCs take the lead to regenerate synapse and how they play a role in synapse remodeling?Kang and colleagues (2014) sought to answer these questions by sequential vital imaging of mice expressing GFP in their SCs and CFP in their motor neurons. They performed lateral, medial, and double nerve crush to achieve variable periods of denervation. As a consequence of different denervation methods, differential … ER -