*Neuroscience Research Unit, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, 700 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2013 Dec;41(6):1365-82. doi: 10.1042/BST20130081.
Among the largest cells in the body, neurons possess an immense surface area and intricate geometry that poses many unique cell biological challenges. This morphological complexity is critical for neural circuit formation and enables neurons to compartmentalize cell-cell communication and local intracellular signalling to a degree that surpasses other cell types. The adaptive plastic properties of neurons, synapses and circuits have been classically studied by measurement of electrophysiological properties, ionic conductances and excitability. Over the last 15 years, the field of synaptic and neural electrophysiology has collided with neuronal cell biology to produce a more integrated understanding of how these remarkable highly differentiated cells utilize common eukaryotic cellular machinery to decode, integrate and propagate signals in the nervous system. The present article gives a very brief and personal overview of the organelles and trafficking machinery of neuronal dendrites and their role in dendritic and synaptic plasticity.
在体内最大的细胞中，神经元具有巨大的表面积和复杂的几何形状，这给细胞生物学带来了许多独特的挑战。这种形态复杂性对于神经回路的形成至关重要，并使神经元能够将细胞间通讯和局部细胞内信号传递分隔到超过其他细胞类型的程度。神经元、突触和回路的适应性可塑性已通过测量电生理特性、离子电导和兴奋性来进行经典研究。在过去的 15 年中，突触和神经电生理学领域与神经元细胞生物学碰撞，产生了对这些非凡的高度分化细胞如何利用常见的真核细胞机制在神经系统中解码、整合和传播信号的更综合的理解。本文简要概述了神经元树突的细胞器和运输机制及其在树突和突触可塑性中的作用。
