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PMID: 10884317 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Small GTPases Rac and Rho in the maintenance of dendritic spines and branches in hippocampal pyramidal neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience ·Vol. 20 ·No. 14 ·2000-07-15 ·Pages 5329-38

Nakayama AY, Harms MB, Luo L

Abstract

The shape of dendritic trees and the density of dendritic spines can undergo significant changes during the life of a neuron. We report here the function of the small GTPases Rac and Rho in the maintenance of dendritic structures. Maturing pyramidal neurons in rat hippocampal slice culture were biolistically transfected with dominant GTPase mutants. We found that expression of dominant-negative Rac1 results in a progressive elimination of dendritic spines, whereas hyperactivation of RhoA causes a drastic simplification of dendritic branch patterns that is dependent on the activity of a downstream kinase ROCK. Our results suggest that Rac and Rho play distinct functions in regulating dendritic spines and branches and are vital for the maintenance and reorganization of dendritic structures in maturing neurons.

MeSH Terms
Animals Biolistics Cell Differentiation/genetics Dendrites/enzymology,genetics,ultrastructure Gene Expression Genes, Dominant/genetics Genes, Reporter Hippocampus/cytology,enzymology,growth & development In Vitro Techniques Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins Mice Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins/metabolism Mutagenesis, Site-Directed Phenotype Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors,metabolism Pyramidal Cells/enzymology,ultrastructure RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis Rats Rats, Long-Evans Signal Transduction/physiology rac1 GTP-Binding Protein/genetics,metabolism rho-Associated Kinases rhoA GTP-Binding Protein/genetics,metabolism
Chemicals
Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins RNA, Messenger Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases rho-Associated Kinases Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins rac1 GTP-Binding Protein rhoA GTP-Binding Protein
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Nakayama A Y
Department of Biological Sciences and Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5020, USA.
Harms M B
Luo L
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Abbr.
J Neurosci
ISSN
0270-6474
Published
2000-07-15
Pages
5329-38
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8102140
PMCID
PMC6772334
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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