Chen Ming, Qi Junqian, Poo Muming, Yang Yang
Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.
Natl Sci Rev. 2022 Jun 27;9(9):nwac125. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac125. eCollection 2022 Sep.
Formation and elimination of synapses reflect structural plasticity of neuronal connectivity. Here we performed high-resolution two-photon imaging of dendritic spines in the prefrontal cortex of four macaque monkeys and found that spines were in general highly stable, with low percentages undergoing synaptic turnover. By observing the same spines at weekly intervals, we found that newly formed spines were more susceptible to elimination, with only 40% persisting over a period of months. Analyses of spatial distribution of large numbers of spines revealed that spine distribution was neither uniform nor random, favoring inter-spine distances of 2-4 μm. Furthermore, spine formation and elimination occurred more often in low- and high-density dendritic segments, respectively, and preferentially within a hot zone of ∼4 μm from existing spines. Our results demonstrate long-term stability and spatially regulated spine dynamics in the macaque cortex and provide a structural basis for understanding neural circuit plasticity in the primate brain.
突触的形成与消除反映了神经元连接的结构可塑性。在此，我们对四只猕猴前额叶皮层的树突棘进行了高分辨率双光子成像，发现树突棘总体上高度稳定，经历突触更替的比例较低。通过每周对相同的树突棘进行观察，我们发现新形成的树突棘更容易被消除，在数月时间内只有40%的新形成树突棘持续存在。对大量树突棘空间分布的分析表明，树突棘分布既不均匀也不是随机的，偏好2 - 4微米的棘间距离。此外，树突棘的形成和消除分别更常发生在低密度和高密度的树突节段，并且优先发生在距离现有树突棘约4微米的一个热点区域内。我们的结果证明了猕猴皮层中树突棘的长期稳定性和空间调控的动态变化，并为理解灵长类大脑中的神经回路可塑性提供了结构基础。
