Description
Functionally mature neural circuits are shaped during postnatal development
by eliminating redundant synapses formed during the perinatal period. In the
cerebellum of neonatal rodents, each Purkinje cell (PC) receives synaptic inputs
from multiple (more than 4) climbing fibers (CFs). During the first 3 postnatal
weeks, synaptic inputs from a single CF become markedly larger and those from
the other CFs are eliminated in each PC, leading to mono-innervation of each PC
by a strong CF in adulthood. While molecules involved in the strengthening and
elimination of CF synapses during postnatal development are being elucidated,
much less is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying CF synapse
formation during the early postnatal period. The authors show experimental evidence
that suggests that a synapse organizer, PTPdelta, is required for early postnatal CF
synapse formation and the subsequent establishment of CF to PC synaptic wiring.
They showed that PTPdelta was localized at CF-PC synapses from postnatal day 0
(P0) irrespective of the expression of Aldolase C (Aldoc), a major marker of PC
that distinguishes the cerebellar compartments. They found that the extension of
a single strong CF along PC dendrites (CF translocation) was impaired in global
PTPdelta knockout (KO) mice from P12 to P29-31 predominantly in PCs that did
not express Aldoc [Aldoc (–) PCs].