Laboratory of Neurobiology and Laboratory of Brain Development and Repair, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065.
J Neurosci. 2013 Sep 18;33(38):14998-5003. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2398-13.2013.
Sensory experience alters cortical circuitry by parallel processes of axon outgrowth and pruning, but the mechanisms that control these rearrangements are poorly understood. Using in vivo 2-photon longitudinal imaging, we found a marked reduction in axonal pruning in somatosensory cortex of mice with a knock-out of the DR6 gene, which codes for Death Receptor 6. This effect was seen for both long-range horizontal excitatory connections and for the axons of inhibitory neurons. These results identify a new pathway governing axonal plasticity associated with experience-dependent changes in cortical maps.
感觉体验通过轴突生长和修剪的并行过程来改变皮质回路,但控制这些重排的机制还了解甚少。通过体内双光子纵向成像,我们发现敲除编码死亡受体 6 (DR6) 的基因的小鼠体感皮层中的轴突修剪明显减少。这种效应既见于长程水平兴奋性连接,也见于抑制性神经元的轴突。这些结果确定了一条新的通路,该通路与皮质图谱中与经验相关的变化有关的轴突可塑性有关。