• Trudy McCall, Zachary M Weil, Juan Nacher, Erik B Bloss, Abderrahman El Maarouf, Urs Rutishauser, and Bruce S McEwen.
• Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York NY 10065, USA.
• Exp. Neurol. 2013 Mar 1;241:5-12.

AbstractChronic immobilization stress (CIS) shortens apical dendritic trees of CA3 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus of the male rat, and dendritic length may be a determinant of vulnerability to stress. Expression of the polysialylated form of neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) in the hippocampal formation is increased by stress, while PSA removal by Endo-neuraminidase-N (endo-N) is known to cause the mossy fibers to defasciculate and synapse ectopically in their CA3 target area. We show here that enzymatic removal of PSA produced a remarkable expansion of dendritic arbors of CA3 pyramidal neurons, with a lesser effect in CA1. This expansion eclipsed the CIS-induced shortening of CA3 dendrites, with the expanded dendrites of both no-stress-endo-N and CIS-endo-N rats being longer than those in no-stress-control rats and much longer than those in CIS-control rats. As predicted by the hypothesis that endo-N-induced dendritic expansion might increase vulnerability to excitotoxic challenge, systemic injection with kainic acid, showed markedly increased neuronal degeneration, as assessed by fluorojade B histochemistry, in rats that had been treated with endo-N compared to vehicle-treated rats throughout the entire hippocampal formation. PSA removal also exacerbated the CIS-induced reduction in body weight and abolished effects of CIS on NPY and NR2B mRNA levels. These findings support the hypothesis that CA3 arbor plasticity plays a protective role during prolonged stress and clarify the role of PSA-NCAM in stress-induced dendritic plasticity.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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