Spine regulation and structure articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synaptic pruning is important during development and synaptic plasticity. Here, the authors show that the dopamine D2 receptor (Drd2) in the anterior cingulate cortex regulates synaptic pruning, affecting LTD and behaviour in transgenic rats.

    • Ya-Qiang Zhang
    • , Wei-Peng Lin
    •  & Dong-Min Yin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors show that a subanesthetic dose of ketamine markedly elevate calcium signals in apical dendritic spines in the mouse prefrontal cortex. This effect is driven by a local-circuit mechanism that involves the suppression of somatostatin interneurons leading to dendritic disinhibition.

    • Farhan Ali
    • , Danielle M. Gerhard
    •  & Alex C. Kwan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fragile X syndrome and autism spectrum disorders are associated with circuit hyperexcitability, however, its cellular and synaptic bases are not well understood. Here, the authors report abnormal synaptogenesis with an increased prevalence of polysynaptic spines with normal morphology in a mouse model of fragile X.

    • Sam A. Booker
    • , Aleksander P. F. Domanski
    •  & Peter C. Kind

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The lymphatic vasculature is essential to maintain fluid homeostasis and immune surveillance, including in the brain where lymphatic vessels were only recently identified. Here, Jacob et al. provide an anatomical map of lymphatic vessels in the vertebral column, where they find these contribute to fluid drainage and immune responses.

    • Laurent Jacob
    • , Ligia Simoes Braga Boisserand
    •  & Jean-Leon Thomas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct visualization of microglia-mediated synapse pruning has been lacking. This study shows direct evidence of microglia-synapse interaction where microglia do not necessarily ‘eat’ post-synaptic structure but ‘nibble’ on pre-synaptic terminals, much akin to trogocytosis by lymphocytes.

    • Laetitia Weinhard
    • , Giulia di Bartolomei
    •  & Cornelius T. Gross

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Progranulin (PGRN) mutations cause frontotemporal lobe dementia with TDP-43 pathology. Here the authors develop a mutant PGRN knock-in mouse model of the disease, and show that Tyro3, a tyrosine kinase membrane receptor that acts upstream of PKC and MAPK, is inhibited by PGRN which contributes to pathology in this model.

    • Kyota Fujita
    • , Xigui Chen
    •  & Hitoshi Okazawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Purkinje cells (PCs) receive signals from different inputs through their extensively branched dendrites and dysregulation of this process leads to ataxia and other diseases. Here the authors show that the LIM-homeodomain transcription factors Lhx1 and Lhx5 govern dendritogenesis and dendritic spine morphogenesis in postnatal PCs through regulating Espin expression.

    • Nga Chu Lui
    • , Wing Yip Tam
    •  & Kin Ming Kwan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Learning and memory depend on the structural and functional plasticity of synapses. Reinhard et al. show that the calcium sensor Copine-6 is required for memory, controls spine structure by regulating Rac signalling, and through its modulation of actin, supports hippocampal LTP.

    • Judith R. Reinhard
    • , Alexander Kriz
    •  & Markus A. Ruegg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inputs to functionally related synapses have been suggested to show cooperative summation, although the rules governing these interactions are unclear. Here, Weber et al. uncover non-linear interactions dependent on NMDAR signalling that vary across the proximal-distal axis of individual dendrites.

    • Jens P. Weber
    • , Bertalan K. Andrásfalvy
    •  & Judit K. Makara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CSF-contacting neurons are known to project to locomotor CPGs although their relevance to active locomotion is unclear. Here, the authors show that these cells constitute a mechanosensory organ relying on PKD2L1 channels to detect spinal cord curvature and modulate locomotor frequency in freely moving animals.

    • Urs Lucas Böhm
    • , Andrew Prendergast
    •  & Claire Wyart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dendritic spines located on individual neurons process information, but our understanding of the electrical behaviour of spines is still limited. Here, the authors use voltage-sensitive dye imaging techniques to monitor electrical signals from thin basal spines and show that synapses are not electrically isolated by the spine neck.

    • Marko A. Popovic
    • , Nicholas Carnevale
    •  & Dejan Zecevic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) involves comparisons of high resolution structural images of the brain between groups, but what causes changes in the VBM signal is unclear. Here the authors perform a VBM study of Thy1-YFP mice following auditory fear conditioning and propose that the signal changes can be partially explained by increases in dendritic spine density.

    • O. P. Keifer Jr
    • , R. C. Hurt
    •  & K. J. Ressler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a form of synaptic plasticity that results in enhanced synaptic strength. Here, the authors demonstrate that miR-26a and miR-384-5p affect the maintenance, but not induction, of LTP as well as spine enlargement by regulating the expression of RSK3.

    • Qin-Hua Gu
    • , Danni Yu
    •  & Zheng Li

  • Article |

    PGC-1α regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and adaptive thermogenesis. Cheng and colleagues alter the expression of PGC-1α in primary neuronal cultures and in the adult mouse brain, and find that it regulates dendritic spine formation and maintenance by mediating the synaptogenic actions of BDNF and CREB.

    • Aiwu Cheng
    • , Ruiqian Wan
    •  & Mark P. Mattson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most excitatory synapses in the brain are found on dendritic spines, but the mechanisms underlying synapse formation are poorly understood. Niesmannet al. investigate the role of neurobeachin in synaptogenesis, and find that its deletion leads to fewer spinous synapses and altered postsynaptic currents.

    • Katharina Niesmann
    • , Dorothee Breuer
    •  & Markus Missler

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