| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4334130 | Current Opinion in Neurobiology | 2016 | 7 Pages |
•Dendritic spines depend on the actin cytoskeleton and its remodeling for their structure and plasticity.•Actin nucleation factors enable the formation and growth of distinct F-actin networks in spines.•Capping of actin filaments is a crucial step for the actin networks underlying spine formation and plasticity.•Different actin regulatory proteins are spatiotemporally targeted and regulated in spines.•Disruption of the actin cytoskeleton underlies synaptic dysfunction in brain disorders.
Synapses are the basic unit of neuronal communication and their disruption is associated with many neurological disorders. Significant progress has been made towards understanding the molecular and genetic regulation of synapse formation, modulation, and dysfunction, but the underlying cellular mechanisms remain incomplete. The actin cytoskeleton not only provides the structural foundation for synapses, but also regulates a diverse array of cellular activities underlying synaptic function. Here we will discuss the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton in dendritic spines, the postsynaptic compartment of excitatory synapses. We will focus on a select number of actin regulatory processes, highlighting recent advances, the complexity of crosstalk between different pathways, and the challenges of understanding their precise impact on the structure and function of synapses.
