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Updated: May 31, 2026

A Simplified Method for Ultra-Low Density, Long-Term Primary Hippocampal Neuron Culture
Published on: March 5, 2016
Type-II cadherins modulate neural activity in cultured rat hippocampal neurons
Eiji Matsunaga1, Tohru Kurotani, Kenta Suzuki
1Laboratory for Biolinguistics, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Japan.
Abstract:
Cadherins, cell adhesion molecules widely expressed in the nervous system, are thought to be involved in synapse formation and function. To explore the role of cadherins in neuronal activity, we performed electrophysiological and morphological analyses of rat hippocampal cultured neurons overexpressing type-II cadherins, such as cadherin-6B and cadherin-7. We found that cadherin-6B increased but cadherin-7 decreased the number of protrusions of dendritic spines, and affected the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents. Our results suggest that type-II cadherins may modulate neural activity by regulating neuronal morphology.
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