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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0eLife

Spectraplakin is required for dendritic microtubule organization via a tip-based mechanism in Drosophila

  • Matthew Davies1
  • Neeraja Sanal1
  • Neele Wolterhoff1
  • Ulrike Gigengack1
  • Yitao Shen2
  • Samuel M Frommeyer1
  • Ines Hahn3
  • Sebastian Rumpf1
  1. 1Institute for Neurobiology, Multiscale Imaging Center, University of Münster, Röntgenstrasse, Münster, Germany
  2. 2Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States
  3. 3York Biomedical Research Institute, Department of Biology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
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Abstract

The differential microtubule organization in axons and dendrites underlies neuronal polarity and developmental processes, like neurite pruning. How neurons achieve their specific microtubule organization during development is an area of active research, and it has been especially hard to explain how dendritic microtubules are oriented with their plus ends toward the soma. Transient microtubule nucleation from tips of early growing dendrites has been proposed as a mechanism that would explain how this orientation is set up. In a survey for cytoskeletal regulators involved in dendrite pruning and microtubule organization in Drosophila, we found the spectraplakin Short stop (Shot), an actin/microtubule crosslinker. Loss of Shot causes microtubule orientation defects already during early dendrite development, when Shot is transiently recruited to tips of growing dendrites via its actin-binding domain. Genetic and functional evidence suggests that Shot’s primary function in this process is to locally stabilize microtubules. We also provide evidence for an independent, developmentally transient microtubule nucleation mechanism. Our data highlight the importance of transient and localized microtubule regulation for dendritic microtubule organization.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{davies2026spectraplakin,
  title = {{Spectraplakin is required for dendritic microtubule organization via a tip-based mechanism in Drosophila}},
  author = {Matthew Davies and Neeraja Sanal and Neele Wolterhoff and Ulrike Gigengack and Yitao Shen and Samuel M Frommeyer and Ines Hahn and Sebastian Rumpf},
  journal = {eLife},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.7554/elife.108055},
  url = {https://elifesciences.org/articles/108055},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Spectraplakin is required for dendritic microtubule organization via a tip-based mechanism in Drosophila
AU  - Matthew Davies
AU  - Neeraja Sanal
AU  - Neele Wolterhoff
AU  - Ulrike Gigengack
AU  - Yitao Shen
AU  - Samuel M Frommeyer
AU  - Ines Hahn
AU  - Sebastian Rumpf
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
JO  - eLife
DO  - 10.7554/elife.108055
UR  - https://elifesciences.org/articles/108055
AB  - The differential microtubule organization in axons and dendrites underlies neuronal polarity and developmental processes, like neurite pruning. How neurons achieve their specific microtubule organization during development is an area of active research, and it has been especially hard to explain how dendritic microtubules are oriented with their plus ends toward the soma. Transient microtubule nucleation from tips of early growing dendrites has been proposed as a mechanism that would explain how this orientation is set up. In a survey for cytoskeletal regulators involved in dendrite pruning and microtubule organization in Drosophila, we found the spectraplakin Short stop (Shot), an actin/microtubule crosslinker. Loss of Shot causes microtubule orientation defects already during early dendrite development, when Shot is transiently recruited to tips of growing dendrites via its actin-binding domain. Genetic and functional evidence suggests that Shot’s primary function in this process is to locally stabilize microtubules. We also provide evidence for an independent, developmentally transient microtubule nucleation mechanism. Our data highlight the importance of transient and localized microtubule regulation for dendritic microtubule organization.
SN  - 2050-084X
ER  -