Roles for neuronal and microglial autophagy in synaptic pruning during development.

Roles for neuronal and microglial autophagy in synaptic pruning during development. Neurobiol Dis. 2018 Apr 27;: Authors: Lieberman OJ, McGuirt AF, Tang G, Sulzer D Abstract The dendritic protrusions known as spines represent the primary postsynaptic location for excitatory synapses. Dendritic spines are critical for synaptic function, and their formation, modification, and turnover are thought to be important for mechanisms of learning and memory. At many synapses, dendritic spines form during the early postnatal period, and while many spines are likely being formed and removed throughout life, the net number are often gradually "pruned" during adolescence to reach a stable level in the adult. In neurodevelopmental disorders, spine pruning is disrupted, emphasizing the importance of understanding the processes governing spine pruning. Autophagy, a process through which cytosolic components and organelles are degraded, has recently been shown to control spine pruning in the mouse cortex, but, the mechanisms through which autophagy acts remain obscure. Here, we draw on three well-studied prototypical synaptic pruning events to focus on two governing principles of spine pruning: 1) activity-dependent synaptic competition and 2) non-neuronal contributions. We briefly review what is known about autophagy in the central nervous system and its regulation by metabolic kinases. We then propose a model in which autophagy in both neurons and n...
Source: Neurobiology of Disease - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Neurobiol Dis Source Type: research