Neural development goes retro: Gags as essential modulators of synapse formation
by Yung-Heng Chang, Josh Dubnau Neurodevelopment requires dynamic control of synapse number. A new study in PLOS Biology reveals that the gag protein of Copia, an active retrotransposon, forms virus-like capsids that transfer its own RNA across the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. Here, Copia acts antagonistically with Arc, another retrotransposon gag protein, to regulate synapse formation. Neurodevelopment requires dynamic control of synapse number. This Primer highlights a new study in PLOS Biology which reveals that the gag protein of Copia, an active retrotransposon, forms virus-like capsids that transfer its own RNA across the Drosophila neuromuscular junction, to regulate synapse formation.
by Yung-Heng Chang, Josh Dubnau Neurodevelopment requires dynamic control of synapse number. A new study in PLOS Biology reveals that the gag protein of Copia, an active retrotransposon, forms virus-like capsids that transfer its own RNA across the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. Here, Copia acts antagonistically with Arc, another retrotransposon gag protein, to regulate synapse formation. Neurodevelopment requires dynamic control of synapse number. This Primer highlights a new study in PLOS Biology which reveals that the gag protein of Copia, an active retrotransposon, forms virus-like capsids that transfer its own RNA across the Drosophila neuromuscular junction, to regulate synapse formation.
