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Updated: May 7, 2026

Imaging Dendritic Spines in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: September 27, 2021
Primary cilia and dendritic spines: different but similar signaling compartments
Inna V Nechipurenko1, David B Doroquez, Piali Sengupta
1Department of Biology and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 02454, USA.
Abstract:
Primary non-motile cilia and dendritic spines are cellular compartments that are specialized to sense and transduce environmental cues and presynaptic signals, respectively. Despite their unique cellular roles, both compartments exhibit remarkable parallels in the general principles, as well as molecular mechanisms, by which their protein composition, membrane domain architecture, cellular interactions, and structural and functional plasticity are regulated. We compare and contrast the pathways required for the generation and function of cilia and dendritic spines, and suggest that insights from the study of one may inform investigations into the other of these critically important signaling structures.
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