BACKGROUND As the primary sites of synaptic or sensory input in the nervous system, dendrites play an essential role in processing neuronal and sensory information. Moreover, the specification of class specific dendrite arborization is critically important in establishing neural connectivity and the formation of functional networks. Cytoskeletal modulation provides a key mechanism for establish...

The Drosophila peripheral nervous system (PNS) is a powerful model for investigating the complex processes of neuronal development and dendrite morphogenesis at the functional and molecular levels. To aid in these analyses, we have developed a strategy for the isolation of a subclass of PNS neurons called dendritic arborization (da) neurons that have been widely used for studying dendrite morph...

Nedd4-1 is a "neuronal precursor cell expressed and developmentally downregulated protein" and among the most abundant E3 ubiquitin ligases in mammalian neurons. In analyses of conventional and conditional Nedd4-1-deficient mice, we found that Nedd4-1 plays a critical role in dendrite formation. Nedd4-1, the serine/threonine kinase TNIK, and Rap2A form a complex that controls Nedd4-1-mediated u...

As animals grow, many early born structures grow by cell expansion rather than cell addition; thus growth of distinct structures must be coordinated to maintain proportionality. This phenomenon is particularly widespread in the nervous system, with dendrite arbors of many neurons expanding in concert with their substrate to sustain connectivity and maintain receptive field coverage as animals g...

As animals grow, many early born structures grow by cell expansion rather than cell addition; thus growth of distinct structures must be coordinated to maintain proportionality. This phenomenon is particularly widespread in the nervous system, with dendrite arbors of many neurons expanding in concert with their substrate to sustain connectivity and maintain receptive field coverage as animals g...

Functionally similar neurons can share common dendrite morphology, but how different neurons are directed into similar forms is not understood. Here, we show in embryonic and larval development that the level of Cut immunoreactivity in individual dendritic arborization (da) sensory neurons correlates with distinct patterns of terminal dendrites: high Cut in neurons with extensive unbranched ter...

Dendrite development is an important and unsolved problem in neuroscience. The nervous system is composed of a vast number of neurons with strikingly different morphology. Neurons are highly polarized cells with distinct subcellular compartments, including one or multiple dendritic processes arising from the cell body, and a single, extended axon. Communications between neurons involve synapses...

Neurons establish diverse dendritic morphologies during development, and a major challenge is to understand how these distinct developmental programs might relate to, and influence, neuronal function. Drosophila dendritic arborization (da) sensory neurons display class-specific dendritic morphology with extensive coverage of the body wall. To begin to build a basis for linking dendrite structur...