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Cited by 192Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchAdvanced Fluorescence Microscopy TechniquesMemory and Neural Mechanisms

Chronic 2P-STED imaging reveals high turnover of dendritic spines in the hippocampus in vivo

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Pfeiffer, Thomas, Poll, Stefanie, Bancelin, Stephane, Angibaud, Julie, Inavalli, VVG Krishna, Keppler, Kevin, Mittag, Manuel, Fuhrmann, Martin +1 more·2018·eLife
DOI 10.7554/elife.34700PMC PMC6014725
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Abstract

Rewiring neural circuits by the formation and elimination of synapses is thought to be a key cellular mechanism of learning and memory in the mammalian brain. Dendritic spines are the postsynaptic structural component of excitatory synapses, and their experience-dependent plasticity has been extensively studied in mouse superficial cortex using two-photon microscopy in vivo. By contrast, very little is known about spine plasticity in the hippocampus, which is the archetypical memory center of the brain, mostly because it is difficult to visualize dendritic spines in this deeply embedded structure with sufficient spatial resolution. We developed chronic 2P-STED microscopy in mouse hippocampus, using a ‘hippocampal window’ based on resection of cortical tissue and a long working distance objective for optical access. We observed a two-fold higher spine density than previous studies and measured a spine turnover of ~40% within 4 days, which depended on spine size. We thus provide direct evidence for a high level of structural rewiring of synaptic circuits and new insights into the structure-dynamics relationship of hippocampal spines. Having established chronic super-resolution microscopy in the hippocampus in vivo, our study enables longitudinal and correlative analyses of nanoscale neuroanatomical structures with genetic, molecular and behavioral experiments.

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  • A substantial portion of dendritic spines on CA1 pyramidal cells turn over within a few weeks.

    “Perhaps even more problematic is the report that a substantial portion of dendritic spines on CA1 pyramidal cells turn over within a few weeks (416, 417).”

    From Synaptic memory and CaMKII (2023) · cites this paper as [417]

  • Non-super-resolution light microscopy-based methods fail to resolve short-necked spines and are more likely to fail to detect spines in the z-direction.

    “Non-super-resolution light microscopy-based methods fail to resolve short-necked spines and are more likely to fail to detect spines in the z-direction (Pfeiffer et al., 2018; Tønnesen et al., 2014).”

    From Dendritic Spine Remodeling and Synaptic Tau Levels in PS19 Tauopathy Mice (2021) · cites this paper as Pfeiffer et al., 2018

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Authors
Pfeiffer, T., Poll, S., Bancelin, S., Angibaud, J., Inavalli, V. K., Keppler, K., Mittag, M., Fuhrmann, M., & Nägerl, U. V.
Affiliations
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
  • Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, CNRS UMR 5297, Bordeaux, France
Corresponding author
  • Fuhrmann, Martin
  • Nägerl, U Valentin
ORCID
Venue
eLife
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Published
2018-06-22
Volume
7
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7554/elife.34700
PMC
PMC6014725
OpenAlex
W2809205951
Cited by
192
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 1
FWCI
9.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
  • DZNE Pub (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (DEQ20160334901, Graduate Student Fellowship 634FDT20160435677)
  • COEN (ANR-16-COEN-0003-02, CoEN3018)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB1089)
  • ERA-Net (MicroSynDep)
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (Graduate Student Fellowship)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
dendritic spines, hippocampus, STED microscopy, super-resolution imaging, synaptic plasticity, excitatory synapses, spine density, learning and memory, in vivo imaging
MeSH terms
Animals, Bacterial Proteins, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Hippocampus, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Luminescent Proteins, Male, Memory, Mice, Transgenic, Nerve Net, Neuronal Plasticity, Synapses, Gene Expression, Genes, Reporter, Pyramidal Cells, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton, Dendritic Spines, Green Fluorescent Proteins, Mice, Molecular Imaging

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