Signaling and aging at the neuromuscular synapse: lessons learnt from neuromuscular diseases

► The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) as a highly reliable synapse. ► Formation and maintenance of the NMJ as a coordinated and interactive process. ► Autoantibodies against NMJ receptors cause myasthenia gravis with muscle weakness. ► Mutations in genes encoding NMJ proteins cause congenital myasthenic syndrome. ► Fragmentation of the NMJ contributes to sarcopenia, the muscle loss with aging.