Synaptic spine head morphodynamics from graph grammar rules for actin dynamics
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: There is a morphodynamic component to synaptic learning by which changes in dendritic (postsynaptic) spine head size are associated with the strengthening or weakening of the synaptic connection between two neurons. The membrane shape and size dynamics is sculpted by the growth dynamics of the enclosed actin cytoskeleton. We use Dynamical Graph Grammars (DGGs) governing dynamic labelled graphs embedded in two dimensions to model networks of actin filaments and the enclosing membrane in spine head morphology. We demonstrate the flexibility and extensibility of the framework by encoding detailed biophysical as well as biochemical models, obeying constraints of invariance and conservation, in DGG rule sets. From graph-local energy functions for cytoskeleton actin interacting and membrane, we specialize dissipative stochastic dynamics to an exhaustive collection of graph-local neighborhood types for the rule left hand sides. Extensively simulating the resulting model delineates effects of four actin-binding proteins, and their epistatic relationships, on morphology.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Hur, Matthew, Bartol, Thomas, Rangamani, Padmini, Sejnowski, Terrence, Mjolsness, Eric
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6966972788
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