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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jan 12.
Published in final edited form as: Neuron. 2008 Jul 10;59(1):56–69. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.05.007

Figure 7. Model of EphB Functions during Synaptogenesis.

Figure 7

(A) Mechanism for EphB-dependent synapse formation: EphB directs synapse development by modulating filopodia motility via PAK and providing a trans-cellular interaction via ephrinB. Upon stable binding of axonal ephrinB, EphB is able to direct presynaptic terminal differentiation, NMDAR and AMPAR clustering, and formation of dendritic spines.

(B) EphB is active during a discrete time period to guide the formation of a subgroup of synapses. The earliest forming contacts do not require EphB. During the second week in vitro, these mechanisms continue, but a rapidly forming group of synapses that are EphB dependent are also added. By the third week in vitro, EphB is no longer involved in the formation or maintenance of synaptic contacts but is required for the stabilization of dendritic spines (hashed lines indicate extrapolated data from collected data points).