title: A general homeostatic principle following lesion induced dendritic remodeling.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neuronal death and subsequent denervation of target areas are hallmarks of many neurological disorders. Denervated neurons lose part of their dendritic tree, and are considered "atrophic", i.e. pathologically altered and damaged. The functional consequences of this phenomenon are poorly understood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using computational modelling of 3D-reconstructed granule cells we show that denervation-induced dendritic atrophy also subserves homeostatic functions: By shortening their dendritic tree, granule cells compensate for the loss of inputs by a precise adjustment of excitability. As a consequence, surviving afferents are able to activate the cells, thereby allowing information to flow again through the denervated area. In addition, action potentials backpropagating from the soma to the synapses are enhanced specifically in reorganized portions of the dendritic arbor, resulting in their increased synaptic plasticity. These two observations generalize to any given dendritic tree undergoing structural changes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Structural homeostatic plasticity, i.e. homeostatic dendritic remodeling, is operating in long-term denervated neurons to achieve functional homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, D-60590, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Platschek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, D-60590, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. hermann.neuro@gmail.com.|Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, D-60528, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. hermann.neuro@gmail.com.|Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, D-60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. hermann.neuro@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cuntz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, D-60590, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.|Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Salata 12, HR-10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vuksic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, D-60590, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University Frankfurt, D-60590, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. jedlicka@em.uni-frankfurt.de.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jedlicka
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001703:Biophysics; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003714:Denervation / Q000009:adverse effects; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins