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Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic factor that play important roles in the nervous system, although it is still unclear which receptors transduce those signals in neurons. Here, we show that in the developing hippocampus VEGFR2 (also known as KDR or FLK1) is expressed specifically in the CA3 region and it is required for dendritic arborization and spine morphogenesis in hippocampal neurons. Mice lacking VEGFR2 in neurons () show decreased dendritic arbors and spines as well as a reduction in long-term potentiation (LTP) at the associational-commissural - CA3 synapses. Mechanistically, VEGFR2 internalization is required for VEGF-induced spine maturation. In analogy to endothelial cells, ephrinB2 controls VEGFR2 internalization in neurons. VEGFR2-ephrinB2 compound mice () show reduced dendritic branching, reduced spine head size and impaired LTP. Our results demonstrate the functional crosstalk of VEGFR2 and ephrinB2 in vivo to control dendritic arborization, spine morphogenesis and hippocampal circuitry development.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.49819 | DOI Listing |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris 75005, France.
Excitatory glycine receptors (eGlyRs), composed of the glycine-binding NMDA receptor subunits GluN1 and GluN3A, have recently emerged as a novel neuronal signaling modality that challenges the traditional view of glycine as an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Unlike conventional GluN1/GluN2 NMDARs, the distribution and role of eGlyRs remain poorly understood. Here, we show that eGlyRs are highly enriched in the ventral hippocampus (VH) and confer distinct properties on this brain region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychopharmacology (Berl)
September 2025
División de Neurociencias, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, 04510, Mexico.
Rationale: One of the earliest changes associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the loss of catecholaminergic terminals in the cortex and hippocampus originating from the Locus Coeruleus (LC). This decline leads to reduced catecholaminergic neurotransmitters in the hippocampus, affecting synaptic plasticity and spatial memory. However, it is unclear whether restoring catecholaminergic transmission in the terminals from the LC may alleviate the spatial memory deficits associated with AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurochem
September 2025
Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) may experience neurobehavioral and cognitive concerns, including psychiatric symptoms, due to the absence of full-length dystrophin (Dp427), frequently accompanied by deficiencies in shorter isoforms. The lack of dystrophin affects neurophysiological processes from the uterine phase, impacting neural circuitry in brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. This leads to reduced inhibitory GABAergic transmission and altered hippocampal glutamatergic signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPNAS Nexus
September 2025
Department of Anatomy, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
It is not known how selective pressures shape the numbers of interconnected neurons in defined neural circuits during the phylogeny of mammals. Consequently, models of function are without phylogenetic bounds, and species differences in neuronal makeup cannot be linked to ecological factors that generate selective pressures. Based on data from 65 species belonging to 11 orders, we here provide an analysis of five interconnected neuron populations in the circuitry of the hippocampus, the forebrain region encoding episodic memories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychol Med
August 2025
Department of Psychiatry, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang, China.
Background: Schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations have distinct morphological abnormalities, but whether this population have a progressive gray matter atrophy pattern and specific transmission chain of causal effects remains unclear. This study was designed to construct a causal structural covariance network in schizophrenia patients with persistent auditory hallucinations.
Methods: T1-weighted MRI images were acquired from 90 schizophrenia patients with persistent auditory hallucinations (pAH group) and 83 healthy controls (HC group).