title: Molecular mechanisms of dendritic spine morphogenesis.
abstract: Excitatory synapses are formed on dendritic spines, postsynaptic structures that change during development and in response to synaptic activity. Once mature, however, spines can remain stable for many months. The molecular mechanisms that control the formation and elimination, motility and stability, and size and shape of dendritic spines are being revealed. Multiple signaling pathways, particularly those involving Rho and Ras family small GTPases, converge on the actin cytoskeleton to regulate spine morphology and dynamics bidirectionally. Numerous cell surface receptors, scaffold proteins and actin binding proteins are concentrated in spines and engaged in spine morphogenesis.
authors.affiliation: The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Morgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D034521:Nuclear Matrix-Associated Proteins / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D034521:Nuclear Matrix-Associated Proteins