Pannexin 1 regulates spiny protrusion dynamics in cortical neurons
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract The integration of neurons into networks relies on the formation of dendritic spines. These specialized structures arise from dynamic filopodia-like spiny protrusions. Recently, it was discovered that cortical neurons lacking the channel protein Pannexin 1 (Panx1) exhibited larger and more complicated neuronal networks, as well as, higher dendritic spine densities. Here, we expanded on those findings to investigate whether the increase in dendritic spine density associated with lack of Panx1 was due to differences in the rates of spine dynamics. Using a fluorescent membrane tag (mCherry-CD9-10) to visualize spiny protrusions in developing neurons (at 10 days-in-vitro , DIV10) we confirmed that lack of Panx1 leads to higher spiny protrusion density while transient transfection of Panx1 leads to decreased spiny protrusion density. To quantify the impact of Panx1 expression on spiny protrusion formation, elimination, and motility, we used live cell imaging in DIV10 neurons (1 frame every 5 seconds for 10 minutes). We discovered, that at DIV10, lack of Panx1 KO stabilized spiny protrusions. Notably, re-expression of Panx1 in Panx1 knockout neurons resulted in a significant increase in spiny protrusion motility and turnover. In summary, these new data revealed that Panx1 regulates the development of dendritic spines by controlling protrusion dynamics. Significance statement Cells in the brain form intricate and specialized networks - neuronal networks - in charge of processing sensations, executing movement commands, and storing memories. To do this, brain cells extend microscopic protrusions - spiny protrusions - which are highly dynamic and survey the local environment to contact other cells. Those contact sites are known as synapses and undergo further stabilization and maturation establishing the function and efficiency of neuronal networks. Our work shows that removal of Panx1 increases the stability and decreases the turnover of spiny protrusion on young neurons.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".