UC San Diego

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy molecule utilized by the brain and is the driver for many energetically demanding neuronal processes, as the brain is a major energy sink in the human body. Prior research has focused on uncovering the energy demand of certain neuronal processes within the presynaptic compartments, but less is known regarding the postsynaptic compartments. Particularly, the energy dynamics in dendritic spines have not been explored until now. In different postsynaptic subcellular compartments, I show that glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation equally and additively contribute to ATP production. Additionally, in dendritic spines, I investigate how neuronal activity stimulates ATP production and demand. Furthermore, I define F-actin polymerization to be nearly as demanding of an energy sink as the metabolically well-defined Na+/K+ ATPase within the postsynapse. To understand how increased F-actin polymerization alters ATP dynamics, methods to induce both transient and long-lasting dendritic spine head growth are done. Overall, this research identifies novel energetic costs for signaling and non-signaling processes within dendritic spines and other compartments of the postsynapse.