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Dendritic spines are lost in clusters in Alzheimer’s disease

Mijalkov, Mite ; Volpe, Giovanni ; Fernaud-Espinosa, Isabel ; DeFelipe, Javier ; Pereira, Joana B. LU and Merino-Serrais, Paula (2021) In Scientific Reports 11(1).
Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a deterioration of neuronal connectivity. The pathological accumulation of tau in neurons is one of the hallmarks of AD and has been connected to the loss of dendritic spines of pyramidal cells, which are the major targets of cortical excitatory synapses and key elements in memory storage. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the loss of dendritic spines in individuals with AD are still unclear. Here, we used graph-theory approaches to compare the distribution of dendritic spines from neurons with and without tau pathology of AD individuals. We found that the presence of tau pathology determines the loss of dendritic spines in clusters, ruling... (More)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a deterioration of neuronal connectivity. The pathological accumulation of tau in neurons is one of the hallmarks of AD and has been connected to the loss of dendritic spines of pyramidal cells, which are the major targets of cortical excitatory synapses and key elements in memory storage. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the loss of dendritic spines in individuals with AD are still unclear. Here, we used graph-theory approaches to compare the distribution of dendritic spines from neurons with and without tau pathology of AD individuals. We found that the presence of tau pathology determines the loss of dendritic spines in clusters, ruling out alternative models where spine loss occurs at random locations. Since memory storage has been associated with synaptic clusters, the present results provide a new insight into the mechanisms by which tau drives synaptic damage in AD, paving the way to memory deficits through alterations of spine organization.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
11
issue
1
article number
12350
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:34117272
  • scopus:85107823192
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-021-91726-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7282b05b-c271-41be-b1d7-ab705e5f2236
date added to LUP
2021-06-29 10:20:22
date last changed
2024-06-29 14:09:29
@article{7282b05b-c271-41be-b1d7-ab705e5f2236,
  abstract     = {{<p>Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a deterioration of neuronal connectivity. The pathological accumulation of tau in neurons is one of the hallmarks of AD and has been connected to the loss of dendritic spines of pyramidal cells, which are the major targets of cortical excitatory synapses and key elements in memory storage. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the loss of dendritic spines in individuals with AD are still unclear. Here, we used graph-theory approaches to compare the distribution of dendritic spines from neurons with and without tau pathology of AD individuals. We found that the presence of tau pathology determines the loss of dendritic spines in clusters, ruling out alternative models where spine loss occurs at random locations. Since memory storage has been associated with synaptic clusters, the present results provide a new insight into the mechanisms by which tau drives synaptic damage in AD, paving the way to memory deficits through alterations of spine organization.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mijalkov, Mite and Volpe, Giovanni and Fernaud-Espinosa, Isabel and DeFelipe, Javier and Pereira, Joana B. and Merino-Serrais, Paula}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Dendritic spines are lost in clusters in Alzheimer’s disease}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91726-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-021-91726-x}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}