Alterations of dendritic protrusions over the first postnatal year of a mouse: an analysis in layer VI of the barrel cortex

Dendritic spines are small protrusions that serve as the principal recipients of excitatory inputs onto cortical pyramidal cells. Alterations in spine and filopodia density and morphology correlate with both developmental maturity and changes in synaptic strength. In order to better understand the developmental profile of dendritic protrusion (dendritic spines + filopodia) morphology and density over the animal's first postnatal year, we used the Golgi staining technique to label neurons and their dendritic protrusions in mice. We focused on quantifying the density per length of dendrite and categorizing the morphology of dendritic protrusions of layer VI pyramidal neurons residing in barrel cortex using the computer assisted reconstruction program Neurolucida. We classified dendritic protrusion densities at seven developmental time points: postnatal day (PND) 15, 30, 60, 90, 180, 270, and 360. Our findings suggest that the dendritic protrusions in layer VI barrel cortex pyramidal neurons are not static, and their density as well as relative morphological distribution change over time. We observed a significant increase in mushroom spines and a decrease in filopodia as the animals matured. Further analyses show that as the animal mature there was a reduction in pyramidal cell dendritic lengths overall, as well as a decrease in overall protrusion densities. The ratio of apical to basilar density decreased as well. Characterizing the profile of cortical layer VI dendritic protrusions within the first postnatal year will enable us to better understand the relationship between the overall developmental maturation profile and dendritic spine functioning.