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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Author Spotlight: Optimizing Dendritic Spine Analysis for Balanced Manual and Automated Assessment in the Hippocampus CA1 Apical Dendrites
Published on: September 27, 2024
Polarity Determinants in Dendritic Spine Development and Plasticity
1Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
Abstract:
The asymmetric distribution of various proteins and RNAs is essential for all stages of animal development, and establishment and maintenance of this cellular polarity are regulated by a group of conserved polarity determinants. Studies over the last 10 years highlight important functions for polarity proteins, including apical-basal polarity and planar cell polarity regulators, in dendritic spine development and plasticity. Remarkably, many of the conserved polarity machineries function in similar manners in the context of spine development as they do in epithelial morphogenesis. Interestingly, some polarity proteins also utilize neuronal-specific mechanisms. Although many questions remain unanswered in our understanding of how polarity proteins regulate spine development and plasticity, current and future research will undoubtedly shed more light on how this conserved group of proteins orchestrates different pathways to shape the neuronal circuitry.
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