Glutamate receptor composition at Drosophila neuromuscular junctions depends on developmental stage and muscle identity.

Adult Drosophila melanogaster leg and flight muscles show different iGluR expression than larval NMJ muscles, including missing several receptors previously considered essential.

• Why it matters: NMJ glutamate receptor composition is often assumed to be conserved from larva to adult, but life-stage differences could mean synaptic transmission is molecularly reconfigured.
• What they did: The study systematically compared glutamate receptor expression across larval versus adult muscles and examined adjacent adult femur muscles for iGluR differences, plus extrasynaptic GluClα.
• The result: Adult femur muscles display distinct iGluRs, and GluClα is expressed extrasynaptically in adult but not larval muscle fibers, indicating stage- and muscle-specific receptor heterogeneity.

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