Abstract
Nerve-muscle synapses form within 24 hr after fragments of embryonic chick spinal cord are placed in established muscle cultures. Nerve process-muscle fiber contacts were visualized with interference contrast optics, and sites of transmitter release were identified by extracellular stimulation of overlying neurites in the presence of tetrodotoxin. The resolution of this focal depolarization technique is less than 5 μm, and results indicate that synapses are restricted to short segments along unmyelinated motor axons. The distribution of acetylcholine (ACh) receptors on innervated myotubes was determined by microintophoresis of ACh. Clusters of receptors, signaled by sharp relative peaks of ACh sensitivity, were located exactly at sites of transmitter release. The density of receptors was not increased all along the length of motor axon-muscle contacts.
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