title: LTP-induced long-term stabilization of individual nascent dendritic spines.
abstract: Learning new tasks has been associated with increased growth and stabilization of new dendritic spines. We examined whether long-term potentiation (LTP), a key cellular mechanism thought to underlie learning, plays a role in selective stabilization of individual new spines during circuit plasticity. Using two-photon glutamate uncaging, we stimulated nascent spines on dendrites of rat hippocampal CA1 neurons with patterns that induce LTP and then monitored spine survival rates using time-lapse imaging. Remarkably, we found that LTP-inducing stimuli increased the long-term survivorship (>14 h) of individual new spines. Activity-induced new spine stabilization required NMDA receptor activation and was specific for stimuli that induced LTP. Moreover, abrogating CaMKII binding to the NMDA receptor abolished activity-induced new spine stabilization. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that, in addition to enhancing the efficacy of preexisting synapses, LTP-inducing stimuli promote the transition of nascent spines from a short-lived, transient state to a longer-lived, persistent state.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95618, USA.
authors.forename: Travis C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2 / Q000502:physiology; D002138:Calibration; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D059906:Neuroimaging; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; C121001:NR2B NMDA receptor; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2