Spine apparatus

The spine apparatus, also spine apparatus (of English. Spine apparatus ) called, is an organelle that is found in the spinous processes of dendrites in certain populations of neurons. This is an area of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, which is within the heads of spinous processes, and for the formation of synaptic plasticity of importance, especially in the long-term potentiation.

Occurrence

The spine apparatus is only part of the spine protrusion- bearing nerve cells and typically in mushroom-shaped spines. The necessary for the formation of the spine apparatus, synaptopodin is formed in different regions of the cerebrum. Particularly well the mandrel apparatus has been investigated in nerve cells of the hippocampus. So great to own a third of the granule cells of the dentate gyrus and about 20% of the neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, a spine apparatus, further he can also be found in the CA3 region.

Function

The mandrel apparatus plays in long-term potentiation in particular as calcium memory involved. If there is no spine apparatus, so it comes in glutamate release at the synapse at a lower calcium influx into the affected neuron and a reduced installation of an ionotropic glutamate receptor ( AMPA receptor) in the postsynaptic membrane. But not only on the long-term potentiation, but also on the long-term depression of the spine apparatus is involved. This is mediated by a metabotropic glutamate receptor. Synaptic plasticity is essential for learning processes. Thus, mice lacking the gene for synaptopodin and therefore a functional spine apparatus, deficits in learning and memory tasks.