Erik W. Dent, PhD

Professor, Neuroscience

Biography

Contact Information

Department of Neuroscience 332 SMI 1300 University Ave Madison, WI 53706 608.262.4672 ewdent@wisc.edu Lab Website: Dent Lab

Research Statement

We are interested in understanding how the central nervous system (CNS) develops and functions at the cellular level. Nervous system structure and function is highly dependent on the cytoskeleton. In the CNS the cytoskeleton is comprised of three polymer systems: actin filaments, microtubules and neurofilaments. Our main focus is understanding how microtubules and actin filaments interact in space and time during important morphological events in neuronal development and adulthood. Our working hypothesis is that many of the same cytoskeletal dynamics that are key for neuritogenesis and axon guidance are recapitulated at later times in development, such as during dendritic spine formation/plasticity. To study these dynamic events we use several forms of high-resolution, time-lapse microscopy, such as total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM), wide-field microscopy and confocal imaging. We have recently discovered that microtubules remain dynamic throughout the life of CNS neurons and specifically target small protrusions on dendrites termed spines. These spines are the sites of contact with presynaptic axons and their activity-induced morphological changes are likely to underlie memory formation. Notably, microtubule invasion of spines is regulated by neuronal activity and may be important for spine maintenance and plasticity. We are currently studying cytoskeletal dynamics in both developing and adult mouse CNS tissue, utilizing transfected hippocampal neurons in culture and in hippocampal slices. We are also collaborating with groups in both Biomedical Engineering and Physics to determine how neurons respond to gradients of guidance cue and how micropatterning substrates affects neurite outgrowth.

Selected Publications

PubMed

English, L. A., Taylor, R. J., Palmos, J., Cameron, C. J., Broker, E. A., TeVogt, E. M., & Dent, E. W. (2025). F-BAR Proteins CIP4 and FBP17 Function in Cortical Neuron Radial Migration and Process Outgrowth. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 45(34), e1952242025. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1952-24.2025

English, L. A., Taylor, R. J., Cameron, C. J., Broker, E. A., & Dent, E. W. (2024). F-BAR proteins CIP4 and FBP17 function in cortical neuron radial migration and process outgrowth. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2024.10.25.620310. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.25.620310

Holland, E. D., Miller, H. L., Millette, M. M., Taylor, R. J., Drucker, G. L., & Dent, E. W. (2024). A methodology for specific disruption of microtubule polymerization into dendritic spines. Molecular biology of the cell, 35(6), mr3. https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E24-02-0093

Kim, J. Y., Yang, J. E., Mitchell, J. W., English, L. A., Yang, S. Z., Tenpas, T., Dent, E. W., Wildonger, J., & Wright, E. R. (2023). Handling Difficult Cryo-ET Samples: A Study with Primary Neurons from Drosophila melanogaster. Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada, 29(6), 2127–2148. https://doi.org/10.1093/micmic/ozad125

Miryala, C. S. J., Holland, E. D., & Dent, E. W. (2022). Contributions of microtubule dynamics and transport to presynaptic and postsynaptic functions. Molecular and cellular neurosciences, 123, 103787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcn.2022.103787

Millette, M. M., Holland, E. D., Tenpas, T. J., & Dent, E. W. (2022). A Single Transcript Knockdown-Replacement Strategy Employing 5′ UTR Secondary Structures to Precisely Titrate Rescue Protein Translation. Frontiers in genome editing, 4, 803375. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgeed.2022.803375

Dent E. W. (2020). Dynamic microtubules at the synapse. Current opinion in neurobiology, 63, 9–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2020.01.003

Uppakara, K., Jamornwan, S., Duan, L. X., Yue, K. R., Sunrat, C., Dent, E. W., Wan, S. B., & Saengsawang, W. (2020). Novel α-Lipoic Acid/3-n-Butylphthalide Conjugate Enhances Protective Effects against Oxidative Stress and 6-OHDA Induced Neuronal Damage. ACS chemical neuroscience, 11(11), 1634–1642. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00105

Taylor, K. L., Taylor, R. J., Richters, K. E., Huynh, B., Carrington, J., McDermott, M. E., Wilson, R. L., & Dent, E. W. (2019). Opposing functions of F-BAR proteins in neuronal membrane protrusion, tubule formation, and neurite outgrowth. Life science alliance, 2(3), e201800288. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.201800288

Kim, H., Lee, I. K., Taylor, K., Richters, K., Baek, D. H., Ryu, J. H., Cho, S. J., Jung, Y. H., Park, D. W., Novello, J., Bong, J., Suminski, A. J., Dingle, A. M., Blick, R. H., Williams, J. C., Dent, E. W., & Ma, Z. (2018). Single-neuronal cell culture and monitoring platform using a fully transparent microfluidic DEP device. Scientific reports, 8(1), 13194. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31576-2

Dent E. W. (2017). Of microtubules and memory: implications for microtubule dynamics in dendrites and spines. Molecular biology of the cell, 28(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E15-11-0769

Nichol, R. H., IV, Hagen, K. M., Lumbard, D. C., Dent, E. W., & Gómez, T. M. (2016). Guidance of Axons by Local Coupling of Retrograde Flow to Point Contact Adhesions. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 36(7), 2267–2282. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2645-15.2016

McVicker DP, Millette MM, Dent EW. (2015) Signaling to the microtubule cytoskeleton: an unconventional role for CaMKII. Developmental Neurobiology. 75(4):423-34. doi: 10.1002/dneu.22227.

Kalil K, Dent EW. (2014) Branch management: mechanisms of axon branching in the developing vertebrate CNS. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 15(1):7-18. doi: 10.1038/nrn3650.

Cavallo F, Huang Y, Dent EW, Williams JC, Lagally MG. (2014) Neurite guidance and three-dimensional confinement via compliant semiconductor scaffolds. ACS Nano. 23;8(12):12219-27. doi: 10.1021/nn503989c.

Li L, Fothergill T, Hutchins BI, Dent EW, Kalil K. (2014) Wnt5a evokes cortical axon outgrowth and repulsive guidance by tau mediated reorganization of dynamic microtubules. Developmental Neurobiology. 74(8):797-817. doi: 10.1002/dneu.22102.

Dent EW, Baas PW. (2014) Microtubules in neurons as information carriers. Journal of Neurochemistry. 129(2):235-9. doi: 10.1111/jnc.12621.

Saengsawang W, Taylor KL, Lumbard DC, Mitok K, Price A, Pietila L, Gomez TM, Dent EW. (2013) CIP4 coordinates with phospholipids and actin-associated proteins to localize to the protruding edge and produce actin ribs and veils. Journal of Cell Science. Jun 1;126(Pt 11):2411-23.

Merriam EB, Millette M, Lumbard DC, Saengsawang W, Fothergill T, Hu X, Ferhat L, Dent EW. (2013) Synaptic regulation of microtubule dynamics in dendritic spines by calcium, F-actin, and drebrin. Journal of Neuroscience. 33(42):16471-82. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0661-13.2013.

Hart SR, Huang Y, Fothergill T, Lumbard DC, Dent EW, Williams JC. (2013) Adhesive micro-line periodicity determines guidance of axonal outgrowth. Lab Chip. Feb 21;13(4):562-9.

Saengsawang W, Mitok K, Viesselmann C, Pietila L, Lumbard DC, Corey SJ, Dent EW. (2012) The F-BAR protein CIP4 inhibits neurite formation by producing lamellipodial protrusions. Current Biology. Mar 20;22(6):494-501.

Merriam EB, Lumbard DC, Viesselmann C, Ballweg J, Stevenson M, Pietila L, Hu X, Dent EW. (2011) Dynamic microtubules promote synaptic NMDA receptor-dependent spine enlargement. PLoS One . 6(11):e27688.