Regulation of dendritic branching and filopodia formation in hippocampal neurons by specific acylated protein motifs.

ABSTRACT: Although neuronal axons and dendrites with their associated filopodia and spines exhibit a profound cell polarity, the mechanism by which they develop is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that specific palmitoylated protein motifs, characterized by two adjacent cysteines and nearby basic residues, are sufficient to induce filopodial extensions in heterologous cells and to increase the number of filopodia and the branching of dendrites and axons in neurons. Such motifs are present at the N-terminus of GAP-43 and the C-terminus of paralemmin, two neuronal proteins implicated in cytoskeletal organization and filopodial outgrowth. Filopodia induction is blocked by mutations of the palmitoylated sites or by treatment with 2-bromopalmitate, an agent that inhibits protein palmitoylation. More

SUBMITTER: Gauthier-Campbell C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC404016 | biostudies-literature | 2004 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature