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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 5, 2005, 25(40):9124-9134; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2648-05.2005

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Cellular/Molecular
Stereotyped Axon Pruning via Plexin Signaling Is Associated with Synaptic Complex Elimination in the Hippocampus

Xiao-Bo Liu,^1 * Lawrence K. Low,^1 * Edward G. Jones,^1,2 and Hwai-Jong Cheng^1,3,3

¹Center for Neuroscience, ²Department of Psychiatry, and ³Section of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, ³Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616

Plexin signaling is required for stereotyped pruning of long axon collaterals in the vertebrate CNS; however, a cellular basis for plexins on stereotyped pruning has not been determined. Using quantitative electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry, we found that infrapyramidal mossy fiber axon collaterals form transient synaptic complexes with basal dendrites of CA3 pyramidal cells in the early postnatal mouse hippocampus. At later postnatal ages, these synaptic complexes stop maturing and are removed before stereotyped pruning by a mechanism that does not involve axon degeneration and glial cell engulfment. In knock-out mice that lack plexin-A3 signaling, the synaptic complexes continue to mature, and, as a result, the collaterals are not pruned. Thus, our results suggest that intact plexin-A3 signaling contributes to synaptic complex elimination, which is associated with stereotyped axon pruning.

Key words: axon pruning; plexin; semaphorin; synaptic complex; mossy fiber; hippocampus; granule cell

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Received June 27, 2005; revised August 16, 2005; accepted August 22, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. L. Faulkner, M.-H. Jang, X.-B. Liu, X. Duan, K. A. Sailor, J. Y. Kim, S. Ge, E. G. Jones, G.-l. Ming, H. Song, et al. Development of hippocampal mossy fiber synaptic outputs by new neurons in the adult brain PNAS, September 16, 2008; 105(37): 14157 - 14162. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. K. Low, X.-B. Liu, R. L. Faulkner, J. Coble, and H.-J. Cheng Plexin signaling selectively regulates the stereotyped pruning of corticospinal axons from visual cortex PNAS, June 10, 2008; 105(23): 8136 - 8141. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. E. Waimey and H.-J. Cheng Axon Pruning and Synaptic Development: How Are They per-Plexin? Neuroscientist, October 1, 2006; 12(5): 398 - 409. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. K Low and H.-J. Cheng Axon pruning: an essential step underlying the developmental plasticity of neuronal connections Phil Trans R Soc B, September 29, 2006; 361(1473): 1531 - 1544. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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