β-catenin signaling modulates the tempo of dendritic growth of adult-born hippocampal neurons

Heppt J, Wittmann MT, Schäffner I, Billmann C, Zhang J, Vogt-Weisenhorn D, Prakash N, Wurst W, Taketo MM, Lie DC (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

EMBO Journal EMBO Press

DOI: 10.15252/embj.2020104472

Abstract

In adult hippocampal neurogenesis, stem/progenitor cells generate dentate granule neurons that contribute to hippocampal plasticity. The establishment of a morphologically defined dendritic arbor is central to the functional integration of adult-born neurons. We investigated the role of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling in dendritogenesis of adult-born neurons. We show that canonical Wnt signaling follows a biphasic pattern, with high activity in stem/progenitor cells, attenuation in immature neurons, and reactivation during maturation, and demonstrate that this activity pattern is required for proper dendrite development. Increasing β-catenin signaling in maturing neurons of young adult mice transiently accelerated dendritic growth, but eventually produced dendritic defects and excessive spine numbers. In middle-aged mice, in which protracted dendrite and spine development were paralleled by lower canonical Wnt signaling activity, enhancement of β-catenin signaling restored dendritic growth and spine formation to levels observed in young adult animals. Our data indicate that precise timing and strength of β-catenin signaling are essential for the correct functional integration of adult-born neurons and suggest Wnt/β-catenin signaling as a pathway to ameliorate deficits in adult neurogenesis during aging.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jana Heppt Professur für Molekulare Medizin mit dem Schwerpunkt Molekulare Bildgebung Marie-Theres Wittmann Institute of Human Genetics Iris Schäffner Institut für Biochemie Dieter Chichung Lie Professur für Molekulare Medizin mit dem Schwerpunkt Molekulare Bildgebung

Involved external institutions

Helmholtz Zentrum München - Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (HMGU) / Helmholtz Munich DE Germany (DE) Kyoto University / 京都大学 Kyōto daigaku JP Japan (JP)

How to cite

APA:

Heppt, J., Wittmann, M.-T., Schäffner, I., Billmann, C., Zhang, J., Vogt-Weisenhorn, D.,... Lie, D.C. (2020). β-catenin signaling modulates the tempo of dendritic growth of adult-born hippocampal neurons. EMBO Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.15252/embj.2020104472

MLA:

Heppt, Jana, et al. "β-catenin signaling modulates the tempo of dendritic growth of adult-born hippocampal neurons." EMBO Journal (2020).

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