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Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 4455-4469, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience
Dendritic spines of rat cerebellar Purkinje cells: serial electron microscopy with reference to their biophysical characteristics
KM Harris and JK Stevens
Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
We have used serial electron microscopy and 3-dimensional reconstructions
of dendritic spines from Purkinje spiny branchlets of normal adult rats to
evaluate 2 questions about the relationship of spine geometry to synaptic
efficacy. First, do relationships between spine geometry and other
anatomical indicators of synaptic activity suggest that spine size and
shape might be associated with synaptic efficacy? Reconstructed spines were
graphically edited into head and neck compartments; the area of the
postsynaptic density (PSD) was measured; the volume of spine smooth
endoplasmic reticulum (SER) was computed; and all of the vesicles in the
axonal varicosities were counted. Spine head volume and the volume of SER
contained in the head are well correlated with the area of the PSD and the
number of vesicles in the presynaptic axonal varicosity. Spine neck
diameter does not fluctuate with PSD area, head volume, or the vesicle
number. These results suggest that the dimensions of the spine head, but
not of the spine neck, are likely to reflect differences in synaptic
efficacy. Second, does the geometry of cerebellar spine necks reduce the
transfer of synaptic charge to the recipient dendrite from the theoretical
maximum that could be transferred if the synapse were on a dendritic shaft?
Comparison of volume to surface area showed that the spine heads are
approximately spherical and the necks are approximately cylindrical.
Application of results from a biophysical model that assumed these
geometrical shapes for spines (Wilson, 1984) showed that the cerebellar
spine necks are unlikely to reduce transfer of synaptic charge by more than
5-20% even if their SER were to completely block passage of current through
the portion of the neck that it occupies. We suggest that the constricted
spine neck diameter might serve to isolate metabolic events in the vicinity
of activated synapses by reducing diffusion to neighboring synapses,
without significantly influencing the transfer of synaptic charge to the
postsynaptic dendrite.
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