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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 24, 2007, 27(43):11473-11482; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1182-07.2007

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Cellular/Molecular
Synaptic Connections between Layer 5B Pyramidal Neurons in Mouse Somatosensory Cortex Are Independent of Apical Dendrite Bundling

Patrik Krieger,^1,2 Thomas Kuner,¹ and Bert Sakmann¹

¹Abteilung Zellphysiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany, and ²Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, SE-75124 Uppsala, Sweden

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Patrik Krieger, Abteilung Zellphysiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Medizinische Forschung, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Email: patrik.krieger{at}mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de

Rodent somatosensory barrel cortex is organized both physiologically and anatomically in columns with a cross-sectional diameter of 100–400 µm. The underlying anatomical correlate of physiologically defined, much narrower minicolumns (20–60 µm in diameter) remains unclear. The minicolumn has been proposed to be a fundamental functional unit in the cortex, and one anatomical component of a minicolumn is thought to be a cluster of pyramidal cells in layer 5B (L5B) that contribute their apical dendrite to distinct bundles. In transgenic mice with fluorescently labeled L5B pyramidal cells, which project to the pons and thalamus, we investigated whether the pyramidal cells of a cluster also share functional properties. We found that apical dendrite bundles in the transgenic mice were anatomically similar to apical dendrite bundles previously proposed to be part of minicolumns. We made targeted whole-cell recordings in acute brain slices from pairs of fluorescently labeled L5B pyramidal cells that were located either in the same cluster or in adjacent clusters and subsequently reconstructed their dendritic arbors. Pyramids within the same cluster had larger common dendritic domains compared with pyramids in adjacent clusters but did not receive more correlated synaptic inputs. L5B pyramids within and between clusters have similar connection probabilities and unitary EPSP amplitudes. Furthermore, intrinsically bursting and regular spiking pyramidal cells were both present within the same cluster. In conclusion, intrinsic electrical excitability and the properties of synaptic connections between this subtype of L5B pyramidal cells are independent of the cell clusters defined by bundling of their apical dendrites.

Key words: minicolumn; connectivity; dendritic arborization; somatosensory cortex; bundle; cell cluster

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Received March 16, 2007; revised Aug. 26, 2007; accepted Sept. 3, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Patrik Krieger, Abteilung Zellphysiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Medizinische Forschung, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Email: patrik.krieger{at}mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Miyashita, M. Wintzer, T. Kurotani, T. Konishi, N. Ichinohe, and K. S. Rockland Neurotrophin-3 Is Involved in the Formation of Apical Dendritic Bundles in Cortical Layer 2 of the Rat Cereb Cortex, May 15, 2009; (2009) bhp093v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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