IIBBA   05544
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOQUIMICAS DE BUENOS AIRES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Activity-dependent neuronal maturation in the adult hippocampus
Autor/es:
ALVAREZ DD; GIACOMINI D; SCHINDER AF
Lugar:
Huerta Grande, Cordoba
Reunión:
Congreso; XXVIII Congress of the Argentine Neuroscience Association (SAN); 2014
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias
Resumen:
The adult dentate gyrus contains neural stem cells that generate neurons that develop and mature during several weeks. Neuronal maturation is tightly regulated by physiological and pathological factors. We have recently demonstrated that the rate of maturation of adult-born dentate granule cells (GCs) is regulated by electrical activity in the local circuit; more active networks promote faster maturation rates. Interestingly, adult-born GCs display a high sensitivity to network activity during the initial stages of maturation corresponding to the first ten days of development. Increased network activity by running during this sensitive period promotes accelerated dendritic growth and increased afferent synaptogenesis (visualized as dendritic spine formation), as revealed by morphological analysis performed by three weeks of neuronal age. To investigate whether levels of intrinsic activity are sufficient to modulate maturation, we designed an approach to increase the activity of developing GCs during a restricted time window. We performed retroviral expression of receptors activated solely by synthetic ligands (RASSLs) capable of neuronal activation upon binding of the synthethic ligand clozapine-N-oxide (CNO). Oral administration of CNO to activate developing GCs was sufficient to accelerate dendritic growth and synapse formation. These experiments demonstrate that local signals that induce neuronal depolarization can control development and integration of adult-born neurons.