δ-Catenin engages the autophagy pathway to sculpt the developing dendritic arbor.

The development of the dendritic arbor in pyramidal neurons is critical for neural circuit function. Here, we uncovered a pathway in which δ-catenin, a component of the cadherin-catenin cell adhesion complex, promotes coordination of growth among individual dendrites and engages the autophagy mechanism to sculpt the developing dendritic arbor. Using a rat primary neuron model, time-lapse imaging, immunohistochemistry, and confocal microscopy, we found that apical and basolateral dendrites are coordinately sculpted during development.

Neuron-Type Specific Loss of CDKL5 Leads to Alterations in mTOR Signaling and Synaptic Markers.

CDKL5 disorder is a devastating neurodevelopmental disorder associated with epilepsy, developmental retardation, autism, and related phenotypes. Mutations in the CDKL5 gene, encoding CDKL5, have been identified in this disorder. CDKL5 is a protein with homology to the serine-threonine kinases and incompletely characterized function.