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：2010
卷号：107
期号：21
页码：9873-9878
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1003480107
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Formation of neural circuits depends on stable contacts between neuronal processes, mediated by interaction of cell adhesion molecules, including N-cadherin. In the present study, we found that activity-dependent dendrite arborization specifically requires N-cadherin-mediated extracellular neuron-neuron interaction, because the enhancement did not occur for neurons cultured in isolation or plated on an astrocyte monolayer and was abolished by a recombinant soluble N-cadherin ectodomain. Furthermore, depolarization elevated the level of membrane-associated cadherin/catenin complexes and surface N-cadherin. Importantly, surface N-cadherin elevation is specifically required for the maintenance of nascent dendrite arbors. Through loss- and gain-of-function approaches, we showed that N-cadherin-mediated dendrite growth requires association of the cadherin/catenin complex with the actin cytoskeleton. In summary, these results identify a previously unexplored and specific function for activity-induced, N-cadherin-mediated neuron-neuron contacts in the maintenance of dendrite arbors.
