TABLE 1.
Modulation of the TOR pathway in Drosophila larvae and its effects on NMJ.
| Genetic change | Pre/Post | Morphological changes | Electrophysiology | References |
| Pi3k overexpression | MN | Overgrowth | Increased mEPP frequency and amplitude | Martin-Pena et al., 2006; Knox et al., 2007 |
| Pi3k DN | MN | Reduced size | Martin-Pena et al., 2006 | |
| Akt1 mutant | Larvae | Overgrowth | Natarajan et al., 2013 | |
| Larvae | Reduced size | Martin-Pena et al., 2006 | ||
| Akt overexpression | MN | Overgrowth | Martin-Pena et al., 2006 | |
| Rheb overexpression | MN | Overgrowth | Increased QC and EPP | Knox et al., 2007; Natarajan et al., 2013 |
| Muscle | Normal growth | Knox et al., 2007 | ||
| Rheb mutants | Larvae MN | Reduced size | Reduced mEPP frequency, EPP amplitude and QC | Knox et al., 2007 |
| Tsc1 mutants | Larvae | Overgrowth | Natarajan et al., 2013 | |
| Tsc2 mutants | Larvae | Overgrowth Increased bouton size | Unchanged EPP and mEPP | Natarajan et al., 2013 |
| Tsc2 RNAi | MN | Overgrowth | Natarajan et al., 2013 | |
| Muscle | Slight overgrowth | Natarajan et al., 2013 | ||
| Tsc1/2 overexpression | MN | Reduced size | Knox et al., 2007 | |
| Rictor mutant | Larvae | Overgrowth | Natarajan et al., 2013 | |
| Raptor RNAi | MN | Normal growth Decreased boutons size | Natarajan et al., 2013 | |
| Reduced size | Wong et al., 2015 | |||
| S6K active form | MN | Overgrowth | Howlett et al., 2008 | |
| Normal growth | Shen and Ganetzky, 2009 | |||
| S6k DN | MN | Normal growth | Shen and Ganetzky, 2009; Wong et al., 2015 | |
| S6k null mutation | MN | Normal growth Decreased bouton size and AZ number | Decreased EPP amplitude, QC, and mEPP frequency | Knox et al., 2007; Cheng et al., 2011 |
| Foxo overexpression | MN | Overgrowth | Nechipurenko and Broihier, 2012 | |
| Normal growth | Howlett et al., 2008 | |||
| Trc mutants | Larvae | Overgrowth | Natarajan et al., 2015 | |
| RagA/C mutants | Larvae | Reduced size | Wong et al., 2015 |
Overgrowth/Reduced size refer to NMJ size, i.e., increased vs. reduced number of synaptic boutons per muscle area. DN, dominant negative. MN, Motoneuron. AZ, Active Zones. QC, Quantal Content (number of synaptic vesicles released upon neuron impulse). EPP, excitatory post-synaptic potential (induced upon neuron stimulation). mEPP, miniature EPP, corresponding to the post-synaptic response to spontaneous release of a single synaptic vesicle.