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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Mar 5.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2017 Aug 31;18(10):585–597. doi: 10.1038/nrn.2017.100

Figure 3. The cytoskeletal organization of dendrites.

Figure 3.

The dendritic shaft is enriched in microtubules, while dendritic spines are actin-rich; both stable and dynamic microtubule and actin filaments are present. Actin rings are found in the shaft and spine neck, and may provide structural support. Due to the mixed polarity of dendritic microtubules, both dynein and kinesins regulate the transport of retrograde and anterograde cargo, while myosins mediate trafficking into and out of spines. Microtubules may be transported into dendrites by motors or nucleated at Golgi outposts, and are enriched in MAPs such as MAP2. In this compartment, long-range transport must be balanced against the dynamics of the underlying microtubule tracks and overall dendritic morphology.