title: Cdk5 regulates developmental remodeling of mushroom body neurons in Drosophila.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During metamorphosis, axons and dendrites of the mushroom body (MB) in the Drosophila central brain are remodeled extensively to support the transition from larval to adult behaviors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We show here that the neuronal cyclin-dependent kinase, Cdk5, regulates the timing and rate of mushroom body remodeling: reduced Cdk5 activity causes a delay in pruning of MB neurites, while hyperactivation accelerates it. We further show that Cdk5 cooperates with the ubiquitin-proteasome system in this process. Finally, we show that Cdk5 modulates the first overt step in neurite disassembly, dissolution of the neuronal tubulin cytoskeleton, and provide evidence that it also acts at additional steps of MB pruning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data show that Cdk5 regulates the onset and extent of remodeling of the Drosophila MB. Given the wide phylogenetic conservation of Cdk5, we suggest that it is likely to play a role in developmental remodeling in other systems, as well. Moreover, we speculate that the well-established role of Cdk5 in neurodegeneration may involve some of the same cellular mechanisms that it uses during developmental remodeling.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith-Trunova
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Ranjini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prithviraj
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.|The Johns Hopkins University/National Institutes of Health Graduate Partnership Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spurrier
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kuzina
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giniger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D054875:Ubiquitination / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5; C495904:Cdk5 protein, Drosophila; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex
keywords: axon; dendrite; microtubules; neurodegeneration; proteasome; pruning