| First Author | Molumby MJ | Year | 2016 |
| Journal | Cell Rep | Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1037-1050 |
| PubMed ID | 27117416 | Mgi Jnum | J:235387 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5796224 | Doi | 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.03.093 |
| Citation | Molumby MJ, et al. (2016) Homophilic Protocadherin Cell-Cell Interactions Promote Dendrite Complexity. Cell Rep 15(5):1037-50 |
| abstractText | Growth of a properly complex dendrite arbor is a key step in neuronal differentiation and a prerequisite for neural circuit formation. Diverse cell surface molecules, such as the clustered protocadherins (Pcdhs), have long been proposed to regulate circuit formation through specific cell-cell interactions. Here, using transgenic and conditional knockout mice to manipulate gamma-Pcdh repertoire in the cerebral cortex, we show that the complexity of a neuron's dendritic arbor is determined by homophilic interactions with other cells. Neurons expressing only one of the 22 gamma-Pcdhs can exhibit either exuberant or minimal dendrite complexity, depending only on whether surrounding cells express the same isoform. Furthermore, loss of astrocytic gamma-Pcdhs, or disruption of astrocyte-neuron homophilic matching, reduces dendrite complexity cell non-autonomously. Our data indicate that gamma-Pcdhs act locally to promote dendrite arborization via homophilic matching, and they confirm that connectivity in vivo depends on molecular interactions between neurons and between neurons and astrocytes. |
