Search results for "dendritic spines"
showing 4 items of 24 documents
Synaptopodin regulates denervation-induced homeostatic synaptic plasticity
2013
Synaptopodin (SP) is a marker and essential component of the spine apparatus (SA), an enigmatic cellular organelle composed of stacked smooth endoplasmic reticulum that has been linked to synaptic plasticity. However, SP/SA-mediated synaptic plasticity remains incompletely understood. To study the role of SP/SA in homeostatic synaptic plasticity we here used denervation-induced synaptic scaling of mouse dentate granule cells as a model system. This form of plasticity is of considerable interest in the context of neurological diseases that are associated with the loss of neurons and subsequent denervation of connected brain regions. In entorhino-hippocampal slice cultures prepared from SP-de…
Amyloid Beta-Mediated Changes in Synaptic Function and Spine Number of Neocortical Neurons Depend on NMDA Receptors
2021
Onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathophysiology differs between brain regions. The neocortex, for example, is a brain region that is affected very early during AD. NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are involved in mediating amyloid beta (Aβ) toxicity. NMDAR expression, on the other hand, can be affected by Aβ. We tested whether the high vulnerability of neocortical neurons for Aβ-toxicity may result from specific NMDAR expression profiles or from a particular regulation of NMDAR expression by Aβ. Electrophysiological analyses suggested that pyramidal cells of 6-months-old wildtype mice express mostly GluN1/GluN2A NMDARs. While synaptic NMDAR-mediated currents are unaltered in 5xFAD …
Differential evolution of PSA-NCAM expression during aging of the rat telencephalon
2007
Changes in the ability of neuronal networks to undergo structural remodeling may be involved in the age-associated cognitive decline. The polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) declines dramatically during postnatal development, but persists in several regions of the young-adult rat telencephalon, where it participates, through its anti-adhesive properties, in neuronal structural plasticity. However, PSA-NCAM expression during aging has only been studied in the dentate gyrus and the piriform cortex layer II, where it is strongly downregulated in adult (middle-aged) individuals. Using immunohistochemistry, we have observed that in most of the telencephalic areas …
Induction of neuronal plasticity during adulthood. Role of cortical interneurons and plasticity-related molecules.
2019
La complejidad del sistema nervioso de los vertebrados representa un reto a la hora de conocer su funcionamiento. Hace ya más de cien años que se postuló la neurona como unidad básica de procesamiento, generación y transmisión de la información a través de este sistema, y, con el paso de los años, ha evolucionado el conocimiento sobre esta unidad funcional. La idea clásica del sistema nervioso central (SNC) adulto es la de un tejido asombrosamente interconectado y complejo, pero prácticamente inmutable y muy poco adaptable a los cambios. No obstante, esta visión se ha ido desplazando, formándose una nueva idea del SNC adulto que, aunque de manera más limitada que durante el desarrollo, tamb…