Endocytosis Promotes Dendrite Growth

Cheng-Ting Chien and colleagues explore the mechanisms underlying dendrite extension in Drosophila and find that Nak, a clathrin adaptor-associated kinase, promotes higher-order dendrite growth through endocytosis. Nak mediates internalization of the cell adhesion molecule Neuroglian, suggesting that it facilitates the extension of nearby higher-order dendrites by controlling the balance between cell adhesiveness and growth. Read more in Yang et al., Neuron 72(2).