In recent years, advances in 3D imaging technologies have contributed to increased attention towards investigating spinal structure, development, as well as drug interaction(Harris, Jensen et al. 2007) and fragile X syndrome(Comery, Harris et al. Numerous studies examine dendritic spine correlation with memory(Yuste and Bonhoeffer 2001), cognition and related disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease(Akram, Christoffel et al. 2006).Īlthough the complete functions of spines are still not well understood(Yuste and Bonhoeffer 2004), it is widely believed that spines are responsible for information exchange at the synapse. The computational functionality of the neural dendrite and the role of the spine as the smallest subunit is analyzed in (Sidiropoulou, Pissadaki et al. Topics such as dendritic spine properties (shape, size, distribution, density, …), plasticity, their relationship with the neuronal tree and their role within the synapse are the subject of ongoing research(Yuste and Bonhoeffer 2004 Garcia-Lopez, Garcia-Marin et al. The dendrite shaft in this work denotes the dendrite proper. Spiny dendrite segment magnified to show spine head and neck. Moreover, specific neurons exhibit additional spine types such as crook thorn and the gemmules. al.(Fiala and Harris 1999) indicate the dominance of these four types, especially thin-shaped spines, but nevertheless describe a continuum of length and neck deformations. bifurcated or branched, similar to the mushroom but with a split head.įiala et.thin, narrow neck and elongated stem with no head.mushroom, has a narrow neck and a large head.stubby, closely attached to the dendrite with no obvious neck.The most commonly used nomenclature categorizes Their morphologies are quite diverse but are broadly qualified by In tiny structures and in different directions (Harris, Jensen et al. Spines arise from the neuronal membrane at the soma, dendrites, or the axon hillock Despite the primitiveness of his microscope and techniques, Cajal’s elucidations have laid the foundations of modern neurology (Hamburger, V. Since then, not only the name spines has been retained, but also much of Cajal’s neural spine hypotheses(DeFelipe, J., Ed. Previously considered insignificant artifacts on the dendritic shaft, the thorn-like protrusions of neuronal membranes first gained attention with Ramon y Cajal’s (1852-1934) novel interpretations of brain tissue images in 1888. Segmenting spines is necessary to achieve accurate quantification across several snapshots. Their significance has increased in the past decade with advances in 3-D fluorescence microscopy imaging especially for time-lapse analysis (4-D image data) in the context of pre-clinical studies. Fulvia Gheorghita, DBCM, UNIL, Lausanne and MBF Bioscienceĭendritic spines are key to understanding brain cognition and memory as well as drug interaction effects. Dendritic Spine Example showing a 2D minimum intensity projection of a volume image, courtesy Dr.
0 kommentar(er)
