Formation and Maintenance of Functional Spines in the Absence of Presynaptic Glutamate Release

Albrecht Sigler, Won Chan Oh, Cordelia Imig, Bekir Altas, Hiroshi Kawabe, Benjamin H. Cooper, Hyung Bae Kwon, Jeong Seop Rhee, Nils Brose

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

Dendritic spines are the major transmitter reception compartments of glutamatergic synapses in most principal neurons of the mammalian brain and play a key role in the function of nerve cell circuits. The formation of functional spine synapses is thought to be critically dependent on presynaptic glutamatergic signaling. By analyzing CA1 pyramidal neurons in mutant hippocampal slice cultures that are essentially devoid of presynaptic transmitter release, we demonstrate that the formation and maintenance of dendrites and functional spines are independent of synaptic glutamate release.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)304-311.e4
JournalNeuron
Volume94
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 19 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • activity dependence
  • dendrite formation
  • glutamate release
  • glutamate uncaging
  • spine formation
  • synaptogenesis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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