Distinct input-specific mechanisms enable presynaptic homeostatic plasticity.

Abstract

Synapses are endowed with the flexibility to change through experience, but must be sufficiently stable to last a lifetime. This tension is illustrated at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ), where two motor inputs that differ in structural and functional properties coinnervate most muscles to coordinate locomotion. To stabilize NMJ activity, motor neurons augment neurotransmitter release following diminished postsynaptic glutamate receptor functionality, termed presynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP). How these distinct inputs contribute to PHP plasticity remains enigmatic. We have used a botulinum neurotoxin to selectively silence each input and resolve their roles in PHP, demonstrating that PHP is input specific: Chronic (genetic) PHP selectively targets the tonic MN-Ib, where active zone remodeling enhances Ca²⁺ influx to promote increased glutamate release. In contrast, acute (pharmacological) PHP selectively increases vesicle pools to potentiate phasic MN-Is. Thus, distinct homeostatic modulations in active zone nanoarchitecture, vesicle pools, and Ca²⁺ influx collaborate to enable input-specific PHP expression.