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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Easy and Reproducible Low-Density Primary Culture using Frozen Stock of Embryonic Hippocampal Neurons
Published on: January 27, 2023
Many faces of drebrin: from building dendritic spines and stabilizing gap junctions to shaping neurite-like cell
Irina Majoul1, Tomoaki Shirao, Yuko Sekino
1School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK. irina.majoul@rhul.ac.uk
Abstract:
In this review we consider the multiple functions of developmentally regulated brain protein (drebrin), an actin-binding protein, in the formation of cellular polarity in different cell types. Drebrin has a well-established role in the morphogenesis, patterning and maintenance of dendritic spines in neurons. We have recently shown that drebrin also stabilizes Connexin-43 containing gap junctions at the plasma membrane. The latest literature and our own data suggest that drebrin may be broadly involved in shaping cell processes and in the formation of stabilized plasma membrane domains, an effect that is likely to be of crucial significance for formation of cell polarity in both neuronal and non-neuronal types.
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