First Author | Oliveira AL | Year | 2004 |
Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 101 |
Issue | 51 | Pages | 17843-8 |
PubMed ID | 15591351 | Mgi Jnum | J:95276 |
Mgi Id | MGI:3525773 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.0408154101 |
Citation | Oliveira AL, et al. (2004) A role for MHC class I molecules in synaptic plasticity and regeneration of neurons after axotomy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101(51):17843-8 |
abstractText | Recently, MHC class I molecules have been shown to be important for the retraction of synaptic connections that normally occurs during development [Huh, G.S., Boulanger, L. M., Du, H., Riquelme, P. A., Brotz, T. M. & Shatz, C. J. (2000) Science 290, 2155-2158]. In the adult CNS, a classical response of neurons to axon lesion is the detachment of synapses from the cell body and dendrites. We have investigated whether MHC I molecules are involved also in this type of synaptic detachment by studying the synaptic input to sciatic motoneurons at 1 week after peripheral nerve transection in beta2-microglobulin or transporter associated with antigen processing 1-null mutant mice, in which cell surface MHC I expression is impaired. Surprisingly, lesioned motoneurons in mutant mice showed more extensive synaptic detachments than those in wild-type animals. This surplus removal of synapses was entirely directed toward inhibitory synapses assembled in clusters. In parallel, a significantly smaller population of motoneurons reinnervated the distal stump of the transected sciatic nerve in mutants. MHC I molecules, which traditionally have been linked with immunological mechanisms, are thus crucial for a selective maintenance of synapses during the synaptic removal process in neurons after lesion, and the lack of MHC I expression may impede the ability of neurons to regenerate axons. |