title: Widespread changes in dendritic spines in a model of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The mechanism by which dementia occurs in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not known. We assessed changes in hippocampal dendritic spines of APP/PS1 transgenic mice that accumulate amyloid beta throughout the brain. Three-dimensional analysis of 21,507 dendritic spines in the dentate gyrus, a region crucial for learning and memory, revealed a substantial decrease in the frequency of large spines in plaque-free regions of APP/PS1 mice. Plaque-related dendrites also show striking alterations in spine density and morphology. However, plaques occupy only 3.9% of the molecular layer volume. Because large spines are considered to be the physical traces of long-term memory, widespread decrease in the frequency of large spines likely contributes to the cognitive impairments observed in this AD model.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Cajal (CSIC), 28002 Madrid, Spain. shira.knafo@gmail.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knafo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alonso-Nanclares
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Soriano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Merino-Serrais
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernaud-Espinosa
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DeFelipe
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic