SPINE MORPHOLOGY IN AN ANIMAL MODEL OF FRAGILE X SYNDROME

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Golgi-impregnation studies of human autopsy tissue and of a mouse model of fragile X mental retardation syndrome suggest that dendritic spines have an underdeveloped appearance--a tendency towards elongated, tortuous spine morphology. We have tentatively hypothesized that the absence of the fragile X protein (FMRP) interferes with synaptic and dendritic maturation. We wish to examine dendritic segments using high voltage EM to provide 3-D images of dendrites and their spines to confirm and provide more details with respect to the maturation hypothesis.