Authors: Raquel Otal Albert Martínez Eduardo Soriano
Publish Date: 2005/01/27
Volume: 319, Issue: 3, Pages: 349-358
Abstract
We have studied the role of endogenous neurotrophins in the formation and maturation of intrinsic hippocampal connections in vivo and analyzed the dentate granule cell projections in both trkB/ and trkC/ mice Immunohistochemistry against calbindin did not show major alterations in the distribution of granule cell axons which were located exclusively in the hilus and the stratum lucidum However the thickness of the stratum lucidum mossy fiber termination zone and the density of mossy fiber terminals were reduced in the absence of TrkB signaling Electronmicroscopic analyses showed that the fine structure of mossy terminals was altered in both trkB/ and trkC/ mice Mutant granule cell terminals were smaller than those in wildtype animals and showed a reduction in both the number of synaptic contacts and synaptic vesicles Immunofluorescence assays demonstrated that the expression levels of most synapticassociated proteins vSNAREs and tSNAREs were altered in the mossy fibers of trkB and trkCdeficient mice Our results therefore reveal that TrkB and TrkC signaling is required for the maturation of granule cell axonsWe thank Dr J Blasi for providing the various antibodies We also thank Tanya Yates for editorial assistance This study was supported by grants from the Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología SAF20013290 and the Marató de TV3 to Eduardo Soriano
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