Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex

Foliation divides the mammalian cerebellum into structurally distinct subdivisions, including the concave sulcus and the convex apex. Purkinje cell (PC) dendritic morphology varies between subdivisions and changes significantly ontogenetically. Since dendritic morphology both enables and limits sens...

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Main Authors: Hermina Nedelescu, Mohamed Abdelhack
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:Neural Plasticity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/948587
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author Hermina Nedelescu
Mohamed Abdelhack
author_facet Hermina Nedelescu
Mohamed Abdelhack
author_sort Hermina Nedelescu
collection DOAJ
description Foliation divides the mammalian cerebellum into structurally distinct subdivisions, including the concave sulcus and the convex apex. Purkinje cell (PC) dendritic morphology varies between subdivisions and changes significantly ontogenetically. Since dendritic morphology both enables and limits sensory-motor circuit function, it is important to understand how neuronal architectures differ between brain regions. This study employed quantitative confocal microcopy to reconstruct dendritic arbors of cerebellar PCs expressing green fluorescent protein and compared arbor morphology between PCs of sulcus and apex in young and old mice. Arbors were digitized from high z-resolution (0.25 µm) image stacks using an adaptation of Neurolucida’s (MBF Bioscience) continuous contour tracing tool, designed for drawing neuronal somata. Reconstructed morphologies reveal that dendritic arbors of sulcus and apex exhibit profound differences. In sulcus, 72% of the young PC population possesses two primary dendrites, whereas in apex, only 28% do. Spatial constraints in the young sulcus cause significantly more dendritic arbor overlap than in young apex, a distinction that disappears in adulthood. However, adult sulcus PC arbors develop a greater number of branch crossings. These results suggest developmental neuronal plasticity that enables cerebellar PCs to attain correct functional adult architecture under different spatial constraints.
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spelling doaj-art-e251a6d5c6bf4cfb87219a87f5e256202025-08-20T02:21:13ZengWileyNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432013-01-01201310.1155/2013/948587948587Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and ApexHermina Nedelescu0Mohamed Abdelhack1Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0495, JapanOkinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0495, JapanFoliation divides the mammalian cerebellum into structurally distinct subdivisions, including the concave sulcus and the convex apex. Purkinje cell (PC) dendritic morphology varies between subdivisions and changes significantly ontogenetically. Since dendritic morphology both enables and limits sensory-motor circuit function, it is important to understand how neuronal architectures differ between brain regions. This study employed quantitative confocal microcopy to reconstruct dendritic arbors of cerebellar PCs expressing green fluorescent protein and compared arbor morphology between PCs of sulcus and apex in young and old mice. Arbors were digitized from high z-resolution (0.25 µm) image stacks using an adaptation of Neurolucida’s (MBF Bioscience) continuous contour tracing tool, designed for drawing neuronal somata. Reconstructed morphologies reveal that dendritic arbors of sulcus and apex exhibit profound differences. In sulcus, 72% of the young PC population possesses two primary dendrites, whereas in apex, only 28% do. Spatial constraints in the young sulcus cause significantly more dendritic arbor overlap than in young apex, a distinction that disappears in adulthood. However, adult sulcus PC arbors develop a greater number of branch crossings. These results suggest developmental neuronal plasticity that enables cerebellar PCs to attain correct functional adult architecture under different spatial constraints.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/948587
spellingShingle Hermina Nedelescu
Mohamed Abdelhack
Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex
Neural Plasticity
title Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex
title_full Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex
title_fullStr Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex
title_full_unstemmed Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex
title_short Comparative Morphology of Dendritic Arbors in Populations of Purkinje Cells in Mouse Sulcus and Apex
title_sort comparative morphology of dendritic arbors in populations of purkinje cells in mouse sulcus and apex
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/948587
work_keys_str_mv AT herminanedelescu comparativemorphologyofdendriticarborsinpopulationsofpurkinjecellsinmousesulcusandapex
AT mohamedabdelhack comparativemorphologyofdendriticarborsinpopulationsofpurkinjecellsinmousesulcusandapex