title: Aberrant dendritic branching and sensory inputs in the superficial dorsal horn of mice lacking CaMKIIalpha autophosphorylation.
abstract: Superficial dorsal horn neurones undergo marked structural and functional activity-dependent development during the early postnatal period, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes. Calcium signalling, through activation and autophosphorylation of CaMKII, has been shown to play a major role in the maturation of neuronal morphology and connectivity in the cortex. Here, we show that the normal structural and functional development of superficial dorsal horn neurones requires CaMKII autophosphorylation at the Thr286 residue. The dendritic branching of neurones from mice containing a point mutation at this site (T286A) was significantly increased compared with wild-type littermates. This was accompanied by significant increases in receptive field size, recorded from intact preparations. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings of superficial dorsal horn slices revealed a selective deficit in low-threshold A fibre-evoked synaptic input. These results show that CaMKII autophosphorylation is required for the normal development of spinal sensory circuits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, UK. damian.pattinson@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pattinson
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baccei
authors.forename: Ragnhildur
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karadottir
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torsney
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCutcheon
authors.forename: K Peter
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Giese
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017354:Point Mutation; D020671:Posterior Horn Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases