期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2017
卷号:114
期号:10
页码:E1986-E1995
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1607462114
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Neurons receive a multitude of synaptic inputs along their dendritic arbor, but how this highly heterogeneous population of synaptic compartments is spatially organized remains unclear. By measuring N -methyl- d -aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR)-driven calcium responses in single spines, we provide a spatial map of synaptic calcium signals along dendritic arbors of hippocampal neurons and relate this to measures of synapse structure. We find that quantal NMDAR calcium signals increase in amplitude as they approach a thinning dendritic tip end. Based on a compartmental model of spine calcium dynamics, we propose that this biased distribution in calcium signals is governed by a gradual, distance-dependent decline in spine size, which we visualized using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy. Our data describe a cell-autonomous feature of principal neurons, where tapering dendrites show an inverse distribution of spine size and NMDAR-driven calcium signals along dendritic trees, with important implications for synaptic plasticity rules and spine function.