Lhx1/5 control dendritogenesis and spine morphogenesis of Purkinje cells via regulation of Espin

Nga Chu Lui, Wing Yip Tam, Caiji Gao, Jian-Dong Huang, Chi Chiu Wang, Liwen Jiang, Wing Ho Yung and Kin Ming Kwan ()
Additional contact information
Nga Chu Lui: School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Wing Yip Tam: School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Caiji Gao: School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Jian-Dong Huang: School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Hong Kong
Chi Chiu Wang: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Liwen Jiang: School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Wing Ho Yung: School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Kin Ming Kwan: School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract In the cerebellar cortex, Purkinje cells (PCs) receive signals from different inputs through their extensively branched dendrites and serve as an integration centre. Defects in the dendritic development of PCs thus disrupt cerebellar circuitry and cause ataxia. Here we report that specific inactivation of both Lhx1 and Lhx5 in postnatal PCs results in ataxic mutant mice with abnormal dendritic development. The PCs in the mutants have reduced expression of Espin, an F-actin cytoskeleton regulator. We show that Espin expression is transcriptionally activated by Lhx1/5. Downregulation of Espin leads to F-actin mislocalization, thereby impairing dendritogenesis and dendritic spine maturation in the PCs. The mutant PCs therefore fail to form proper synapses and show aberrant electrophysiological properties. By overexpressing Espin, we can successfully rescue the defects in the mutant PCs. Our findings suggest that Lhx1/5, through regulating Espin expression, control dendritogenesis and spine morphogenesis in postnatal PCs.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15079 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15079

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15079

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().