title: EphB receptors regulate dendritic spine morphogenesis through the recruitment/phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase and RhoA activation.
abstract: Dendritic filopodia are small protrusions on the surface of neuronal dendrites that transform into dendritic spines upon synaptic contact with axon terminals. The formation of dendritic spines is a critical aspect of synaptic development. Dendritic spine morphogenesis is characterized by filopodia shortening followed by the formation of mature mushroom-shaped spines. Here we show that activation of the EphB receptor tyrosine kinases in cultured hippocampal neurons by their ephrinB ligands induces morphogenesis of dendritic filopodia into dendritic spines. This appears to occur through assembly of an EphB-associated protein complex that includes focal adhesion kinase (FAK), Src, Grb2, and paxillin and the subsequent activations of FAK, Src, paxillin, and RhoA. Furthermore, Cre-mediated knock-out of loxP-flanked fak or RhoA inhibition blocks EphB-mediated morphogenesis of dendritic filopodia. Finally, EphB-mediated RhoA activation is disrupted by FAK knock-down. These data suggest that EphB receptors are upstream regulators of FAK in dendritic filopodia and that FAK-mediated RhoA activation contributes to assembly of actin filaments in dendritic spines.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Louis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Reichardt
authors.forename: Iryna M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Ethell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008024:Ligands; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010766:Phosphorylation; D036081:Receptors, Eph Family / Q000502:physiology*; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D036081:Receptors, Eph Family; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein