Investigating Clathrin–Mediated Endocytosis in Drosophila Dendrites

Extracellular signals and other cargo are required for cell survival. Mechanisms of cargo internalization are needed to uptake these materials. Events upstream and downstream of cargo intake in axons and the cell body of neurons are known, but these events are not fully understood in dendrites. Using genetic manipulation in Drosophila and confocal microscopy, we find that endocytosis concentrates at dendritic branch points perhaps because of their membrane curvature and likely acts upstream of microtubule nucleation.