title: The short-time structural plasticity of dendritic spines is altered in a model of Rett syndrome.
abstract: The maturation of excitatory transmission comes about through a developmental period in which dendritic spines are highly motile and their number, form and size are rapidly changing. Surprisingly, although these processes are crucial for the formation of cortical circuitry, little is known about possible alterations of these processes in brain disease. By means of acute in vivo 2-photon imaging we show that the dynamic properties of dendritic spines of layer V cortical neurons are deeply affected in a mouse model of Rett syndrome (RTT) at a time around P25 when the neuronal phenotype of the disease is still mild. Then, we show that 24h after a subcutaneous injection of IGF-1 spine dynamics is restored. Our study demonstrates that spine dynamics in RTT mice is severely impaired early during development and suggest that treatments for RTT should be started very early in order to reestablish a normal period of spine plasticity.
authors.affiliation: NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy; NEST Institute Nanoscience CNR, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Putignano
authors.forename: Elena Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Boggio
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giustetto
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pizzorusso
authors.forename: Gian Michele
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Ratto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D015518:Rett Syndrome / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*