Control of Dendritic Spine Morphological and Functional Plasticity by Small GTPases

Figure 1

Dendritic spines are small protrusions along dendrites that contain postsynaptic densities. (a) Example of a cortical neuron expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). The main dendrite is branched and has dendritic spines along its length. Dashed box indicates area magnified in (b). The neuron’s axon is much thinner than the dendrite and has no spines. (b) Magnified region of dendrite of a cortical neuron expressing GFP and stained for the presynaptic protein bassoon. Dendritic spines can clearly be seen protruding from the dendrite, and many spines colocalize with bassoon, suggesting the formation of synaptic connections. In this colour scheme, colocalization is indicated by white. (c) Schematic of a mature dendritic spine making contact with an axon; note the enrichment of glutamate receptors, the scaffold protein PSD-95, and F-actin within the spine head and postsynaptic density (PSD).

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