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Main Menu - Block
- Overview
- Anatomy and Histology
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy
- Electron Microscopy
- Flow Cytometry
- Gene Targeting and Transgenics
- Immortalized Cell Line Culture
- Integrative Imaging
- Invertebrate Shared Resource
- Janelia Experimental Technology
- Mass Spectrometry
- Media Prep
- Molecular Genomics
- Primary & iPS Cell Culture
- Project Pipeline Support
- Project Technical Resources
- Quantitative Genomics
- Scientific Computing Software
- Scientific Computing Systems
- Viral Tools
- Vivarium
Abstract
Neuronal dendrites must relay synaptic inputs over long distances, but the mechanisms by which activity-evoked intracellular signals propagate over macroscopic distances remain unclear. Here, we discovered a system of periodically arranged endoplasmic reticulum-plasma membrane (ER-PM) junctions tiling the plasma membrane of dendrites at ∼1 μm intervals, interlinked by a meshwork of ER tubules patterned in a ladder-like array. Populated with Junctophilin-linked plasma membrane voltage-gated Ca channels and ER Ca-release channels (ryanodine receptors), ER-PM junctions are hubs for ER-PM crosstalk, fine-tuning of Ca homeostasis, and local activation of the Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Local spine stimulation activates the Ca modulatory machinery, facilitating signal transmission and ryanodine-receptor-dependent Ca release at ER-PM junctions over 20 μm away. Thus, interconnected ER-PM junctions support signal propagation and Ca release from the spine-adjacent ER. The capacity of this subcellular architecture to modify both local and distant membrane-proximal biochemistry potentially contributes to dendritic computations.