Cytoskeletal microdifferentiation: a mechanism for organizing morphological plasticity in dendrites.

ABSTRACT: Experimental evidence suggests that microfilaments and microtubules play contrasting roles in regulating the balance between motility and stability in neuronal structures. Actin-containing microfilaments are associated with structural plasticity, both during development when their dynamic activity drives the exploratory activity of growth cones and after circuit formation when the actin-rich dendritic spines of excitatory synapses retain a capacity for rapid changes in morphology. By contrast, microtubules predominate in axonal and dendritic processes, which appear to be morphologically relatively more stable. To compare the cytoplasmic distributions and dynamics of microfilaments and microtubules we made time-lapse recordings of actin or the microtubule-associated protein 2 tagged with gr

SUBMITTER: Kaech S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC34627 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature