We produced and analyzed mice deficient for Na/Ca exchanger 3 (NCX3), a protein that mediates cellular Ca(2+) efflux (forward mode) or Ca(2+) influx (reverse mode) and thus controls intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. NCX3-deficient mice (Ncx3(-/-)) present a skeletal muscle fiber necrosis and a defective neuromuscular transmission, reflecting the absence of NCX3 in the sarcolemma of the muscle...

Studies of the neural control of locomotion have tended to focus on the modulation of motoneuron firing by premotor neurons; new work indicates that the regulation of synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction can also be important, revealing an inverse relationship between input resistance and synaptic output in motoneurons.

The effects of single and repetitive injections of neostigmine on neuromuscular physiology were examined in rat extensor digitorum longus muscles. The characteristic facilitation of neuromuscular transmission associated with acute anticholinesterase treatment was accompanied by significant pre- and postsynaptic alterations in neuromuscular transmission. Three days of neostigmine treatment cause...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether use of intermediate acting neuromuscular blocking agents during general anesthesia increases the incidence of postoperative respiratory complications. DESIGN Prospective, propensity score matched cohort study. SETTING General teaching hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2006-10. PARTICIPANTS 18,579 surgical patients who received intermediate ac...

This article reviews the use of electrodiagnostic testing in disorders of neuromuscular transmission and discusses the differences between various presynaptic and postsynaptic disorders. Attention is paid to quality control issues that influence the sensitivity of repetitive nerve stimulation and single fiber electromyography. Electrodiagnostic testing, when used as an extension of the clinicia...

This supplement is based on two interesting meetings where experts and opinion leaders were invited to present the state of art in their particular fields of interest. The first meeting, a symposium on the Current Developments in Anaesthesia, took place in Barcelona earlier this year, whereas the second meeting, the 7th International Neuromuscular Meeting was held last June in Belfast. The late...

We report a random disruption in the mouse genome that resulted in lethal paralysis in homozygous newborns. The disruption blocked expression of neurobeachin, a protein containing a BEACH (beige and Chediak-Higashi) domain implicated in synaptic vesicle trafficking and an AKAP (A-kinase anchor protein) domain linked to localization of cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity. nbea-null mice demon...

Zebrafish is emerging as a species of choice for the study of a number of biomechanics problems, including balance development, schooling, and neuromuscular transmission. The precise quantification of the flow physics around swimming zebrafish is critical toward a mechanistic understanding of the complex swimming style of this fresh-water species. Although previous studies have elucidated the v...