Rac1 and Rac3 GTPases differently influence the morphological maturation of dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons

PloS One
Roberta PennucciIvan de Curtis

Abstract

The Rac1 and Rac3 GTPases are co-expressed in the developing nervous system, where they are involved in different aspects of neuronal development, including the formation of synapses. The deletion of both Rac genes determines a stronger reduction of dendritic spines in vitro compared to the knockout of either gene, indicating that Rac1 and Rac3 play a synergistic role in the formation of these structures. Here, we have addressed the role of each GTPase in the formation of dendritic spines by overexpressing either Rac1 or Rac3 in wildtype neurons, or by re-expressing either GTPase in double knockout hippocampal cultures. We show that the Rac3 protein is expressed with Rac1 in developing hippocampal neurons. Overexpression of either GTPase in WT neurons increases the density of dendritic spines, suggesting the involvement of both GTPases in their formation. We also found that the re-expression of either Rac1 or Rac3 in double knockout neurons is sufficient to restore spinogenesis. Rac1 is significantly more efficient than Rac3 in restoring the formation of spines. On the other hand the quantitative analysis in neurons overexpressing or re-expressing either GTPase shows that Rac3 induces a more pronounced increase in the size of t...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 5, 2020·Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience·Joana Freitas CostaRaphael Lamprecht
Nov 27, 2020·Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology·Boris LavanderosOscar Cerda
Dec 8, 2020·Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology·Youssif Ben ZablahZhengping Jia
Jan 13, 2021·Molecular Brain·Benjun Ji, Małgorzata Skup
Apr 5, 2021·Neuroscience Letters·Marta PellegattaLuciana R Frick
May 7, 2021·Small GTPases·Joseph G DumanKimberley F Tolias
Aug 28, 2021·Cells·Youssif Ben ZablahZhengping Jia

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
GTPases
GTPase
PCR
immunoprecipitation
immunoprecipitations

Software Mentioned

Volocity 3D Image Analysis
Adobe Photoshop
ImageJ

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