Morphological alterations in dendritic spines of rat hippocampal neurons exposed to N-methyl-D-aspartate.
Individual cultured rat hippocampal neurons grown on glass coverslips were loaded with lucifer yellow (LY) and segments of their dendrites, containing dendritic spines, were exposed to the glutamate agonist N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). Repeated pulse application of NMDA caused a reduction of spine length by 20%, within 1-2 h of exposure to the drug. No such changes were seen in spines exposed to NMDA in presence of the antagonist 2-aminophosphonovalerate or in spines on sister dendrites which were not exposed to NMDA. It is suggested that dendritic spines shrink following exposure to excessive synaptic stimulation.
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects; D003712:Dendrites / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007546:Isoquinolines; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007546:Isoquinolines; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; C017475:lucifer yellow