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The Journal of Neuroscience, 0000, 20:RC82:1-5

RAPID COMMUNICATION
Presynaptic Morphological Changes Associated with Long-Term Synaptic Facilitation Are Triggered by Actin Polymerization at Preexisting Varicosities

Yohko Hatada^{1, 2}, Fang Wu², Zhong-Yi Sun², Samuel Schacher², and Daniel J. Goldberg^{1, 2}

¹ Department of Pharmacology and ² Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York 10032

Morphological changes are thought to contribute to the expression of long-term synaptic plasticity, a cellular basis for learning and memory. The mechanisms mediating the initiation and maintenance of the morphological changes are poorly understood. We repeatedly imaged the axonal arbors of mechanosensory neurons of Aplysia as they formed new synaptic varicosities and axonal branches after applications of serotonin that cause long-term synaptic facilitation. New varicosities formed exclusively from preexisting varicosities, by splitting or branch outgrowth. These changes were prevented by cytochalasin D, which blocks actin polymerization and the turnover of actin filaments. The suppression of the morphological changes by cytochalasin D did not impair their expression when cytochalasin D was removed 24 hr after exposure to serotonin. These results imply that serotonin induces persistent effects at preexisting presynaptic varicosities, which enhance actin polymerization, and that this is essential for presynaptic morphological changes of long-term facilitation.

Key words: Aplysia; actin; synapse; plasticity; long-term facilitation; varicosity

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Copyright © 0000 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/00/$05.00/0

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. D. Hawkins, E. R. Kandel, and C. H. Bailey Molecular Mechanisms of Memory Storage in Aplysia Biol. Bull., June 1, 2006; 210(3): 174 - 191. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Giustetto, A. N. Hegde, K. Si, A. Casadio, K. Inokuchi, W. Pei, E. R. Kandel, and J. H. Schwartz Axonal transport of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1{alpha} mRNA couples transcription in the nucleus to long-term facilitation at the synapse PNAS, November 11, 2003; 100(23): 13680 - 13685. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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