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Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Imaging Dendritic Spines in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: September 27, 2021
Wnt-7a Stimulates Dendritic Spine Morphogenesis and PSD-95 Expression Through Canonical Signaling
Eva Ramos-Fernández1, Cheril Tapia-Rojas1, Valerie T Ramírez1
1Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE UC), Laboratorio de Neurobiología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica, 8331150, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract:
Wnt signaling regulates brain development and synapse maturation; however, the precise molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here, we report that Wnt-7a stimulates dendritic spine morphogenesis in the hippocampus via glycogen synthase kinase-3 β (GSK-3β) inhibition, triggering β-catenin/T cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF)-dependent gene transcription and promoting postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95) protein expression. In addition, wild-type mice treated with an inhibitor of β-catenin/TCF/LEF-mediated transcription showed a reduction in spatial memory acquisition accompanied by a reduction in PSD-95 and decreases in spine density measured by Golgi staining, suggesting that PSD-95 is a novel Wnt target gene. Together, our data strongly demonstrate that Wnt-dependent target gene transcription is essential to hippocampal synaptic plasticity.
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