Immobilizing second-instar Drosophila larvae for imaging and surgery using the larva chip

LJ Smithson, TJ Waller… - Cold Spring Harbor …, 2024 - cshprotocols.cshlp.org
The simple body plan and semitranslucent cuticle of the Drosophila larva allow for imaging
of structures close to the body wall within intact animals. These include sensory neurons …

Peripheral nerve crush in Drosophila larvae

TJ Waller, LJ Smithson… - Cold Spring Harbor …, 2024 - cshprotocols.cshlp.org
The long length of axons makes them vulnerable to damage; hence, it is logical that nervous
systems have evolved adaptive mechanisms for responding to axon damage. Studies in …

Study of Axonal Injury and Degeneration in Drosophila

TJ Waller, LJ Smithson… - Cold Spring Harbor …, 2024 - cshprotocols.cshlp.org
A fundamental feature of nervous systems is a highly specified synaptic connectivity
between cells and the ability to adaptively change this connectivity through plasticity …

Axonal injury signaling is restrained by a spared synaptic branch

LJ Smithson, JL Zang, L Junginger, TJ Waller… - bioRxiv, 2024 - biorxiv.org
The intrinsic ability of injured neurons to degenerate and regenerate their axons facilitates
nervous system repair, however this ability is not engaged in all neurons and injury …