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The Yin–Yang of Dendrite Morphology: Unity of Actin and Microtubules

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Abstract

Actin and microtubules (MT) are targets of numerous molecular pathways that control neurite outgrowth. To generate a neuronal protrusion, coordinated structural changes of the actin and MT cytoskeletons must occur. Neurite formation occurs when actin filaments (F-actin) are destabilized, filopodia are extended, and MTs invade filopodia. This process results in either axon or dendrite formation. Axonal branching involves interplay between F-actin and MTs, with F-actin and MTs influencing polymerization, stabilization, and maintenance of each other. Our knowledge of the mechanisms regulating development of the axon, however, far eclipses our understanding of dendritic development and branching. The two classes of neurites, while fundamentally similar in their ability to elongate and branch, dramatically differ in growth rate, orientation of polarized MT bundles, and mechanisms that initiate branching. In this review, we focus on how F-actin, MTs, and proteins that link the two cytoskeletons coordinate to specifically initiate dendritic events.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a 2007 NARSAD Toulmin Independent Investigator Award, NSF grant IBN-0548543 and MOD grant 1-FY08-464 (to B.L.F). E.S.S. is supported by NIH pre-doctoral training grant 5 T32 MH019957. We thank Melinda Kutzing and Michelle Previtera for their comments on the manuscript. In addition, we have tried to write as complete a review as possible; however, we apologize if we have inadvertently omitted any proteins involved in dendrite patterning that affect the MT and actin cytoskeletons.

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  1. Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854-8082, USA

    Penelope C. Georges, Norell M. Hadzimichalis, Eric S. Sweet & Bonnie L. Firestein

  2. Departments of Neuroscience Graduate Program, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854-8082, USA

    Eric S. Sweet

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  1. Penelope C. Georges
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  2. Norell M. Hadzimichalis
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Correspondence to Bonnie L. Firestein.

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Penelope C. Georges and Norell M. Hadzimichalis contributed equally.

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Georges, P.C., Hadzimichalis, N.M., Sweet, E.S. et al. The Yin–Yang of Dendrite Morphology: Unity of Actin and Microtubules. Mol Neurobiol 38, 270–284 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-008-8046-8

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