| First Author | Abe K | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | Nat Neurosci | Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 357-63 |
| PubMed ID | 15034585 | Mgi Jnum | J:109440 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3628965 | Doi | 10.1038/nn1212 |
| Citation | Abe K, et al. (2004) Stability of dendritic spines and synaptic contacts is controlled by alpha N-catenin. Nat Neurosci 7(4):357-63 |
| abstractText | Morphological plasticity of dendritic spines and synapses is thought to be crucial for their physiological functions. Here we show that alpha N-catenin, a linker between cadherin adhesion receptors and the actin cytoskeleton, is essential for stabilizing dendritic spines in rodent hippocampal neurons in culture. In the absence of alpha N-catenin, spine heads were abnormally motile, actively protruding filopodia from their synaptic contact sites. Conversely, alpha N-catenin overexpression in dendrites reduced spine turnover, causing an increase in spine and synapse density. Tetrodotoxin (TTX), a neural activity blocker, suppressed the synaptic accumulation of alpha N-catenin, whereas bicuculline, a GABA antagonist, promoted it. Furthermore, excess alpha N-catenin rendered spines resistant to the TTX treatment. These results suggest that alpha N-catenin is a key regulator for the stability of synaptic contacts. |
