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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/1999//575 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 144, Number 3, , 1999 575-586


Regular Articles

Cell Surface Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Syndecan-2 Induces the Maturation of Dendritic Spines in Rat Hippocampal Neurons



Iryna M. Ethell and Yu Yamaguchi

The Burnham Institute, La Jolla, California 92037

Dendritic spines are small protrusions that receive synapses, and changes in spine morphology are thought to be the structural basis for learning and memory. We demonstrate that the cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan syndecan-2 plays a critical role in spine development. Syndecan-2 is concentrated at the synapses, specifically on the dendritic spines of cultured hippocampal neurons, and its accumulation occurs concomitant with the morphological maturation of spines from long thin protrusions to stubby and headed shapes. Early introduction of syndecan-2 cDNA into immature hippocampal neurons, by transient transfection, accelerates spine formation from dendritic protrusions. Deletion of the COOH-terminal EFYA motif of syndecan-2, the binding site for PDZ domain proteins, abrogates the spine-promoting activity of syndecan-2. Syndecan-2 clustering on dendritic protrusions does not require the PDZ domain-binding motif, but another portion of the cytoplasmic domain which includes a protein kinase C phosphorylation site. Our results indicate that syndecan-2 plays a direct role in the development of postsynaptic specialization through its interactions with PDZ domain proteins.

Key Words: syndecan-2 • heparan sulfate proteoglycan • dendritic spines • hippocampal neurons



Address correspondence to Yu Yamaguchi, The Burnham Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. Tel.: 619-646-3124. Fax: 619-646-3199. E-mail: yyamaguchi{at}burnham-inst.org

Abbreviations used in this paper: DIV, days in vitro; E, embryonic day; GFP, green fluorescent protein; HSPG, heparan sulfate proteoglycan; PKC, protein kinase C; PSD, postsynaptic density.



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