Proteoglycan Clusters as a Site of Coordinated, Multi-Dendritic Plasticity

Experience-dependent learning depends on synaptic plasticity. While plasticity in individual synapses has been extensively investigated, the mechanisms underlying coordinated changes across sets of synapses on multiple dendrites, likely needed to encode effective adaptations to a salient stimulus, are not well understood. The extracellular matrix is uniquely well suited to fulfill this function, as rapid glia-driven remodeling of its local composition powerfully impact synaptic plasticity. We show that extracellular matrix microenvironments, named CS6 clusters, dynamically form around several dendrites in response to sensory stimuli in coincidence to stimulus-driven synaptic plasticity. CS6 clusters, formed by glia-dependent secretion of extracellular matrix components surrounding sets of adjacent dendrites, may represent a novel structure supporting coordinated synaptic plasticity.