Lipid dynamics at dendritic spines

Abstract

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Dynamic changes in the structure and composition of the membrane protrusions forming dendritic spines underlie memory and learning processes. In recent years a great effort has been made to characterize in detail the protein machinery that controls spine plasticity. However, we know much less about the involvement of lipids, despite being major membrane components and structure determinants. Moreover, protein complexes that regulate spine plasticity depend on specific interactions with membrane lipids for proper function and accurate intracellular signalling. In this review we attempt to gather the far from complete information available on the lipid composition at dendritic spine membranes and on its dynamics. We pay particular attention to the influence that spine lipid dynamism has on glutamate receptors, which are key regulators of synaptic plasticity.

Keywords

• Cholesterol
• Dendritic Spines
• Sphingolipids
• glutamate receptors
• synaptic plasticity
• phosphoinositides