Back

NMDA receptor activation drives early synapse formation in vivo

Andreae, L. C.; Leibold, N. S.; Higgs, N. F.; Kandler, S.; Khan, A. G.; Donato, F.

2024-05-23 neuroscience
10.1101/2024.05.23.595343 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The rules governing neural circuit formation in mammalian central nervous systems are poorly understood. NMDA receptors are involved in synaptic plasticity mechanisms in mature neurons, but their contribution to circuit formation and dendritic maturation remains controversial. Using pharmacological and genetic interventions to disrupt NMDA receptor signaling in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons in vitro and in vivo, we identify an early critical window for a synapse-specific function in wiring Schaffer collateral connections and dendritic arborization. Through in vivo imaging, we show that NMDA receptors are frequently activated during early development and elicit minute-long calcium transients, which immediately precede the emergence of filopodia. These results demonstrate that NMDA receptors drive synapto- and dendritogenesis during development, challenging the view that these processes are primarily mediated by molecular cues.

Matching journals

The top 4 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.