Dendritin

Dendritin is a fictional neurochemical molecule used in educational contexts and speculative fiction to illustrate dendritic signaling and plasticity. The name combines dendrite with the common chemical suffix -in. In many treatments, dendritin is described as a small molecule produced by neurons and capable of diffusing through the cellular membrane to bind a hypothetical dendritic receptor. Activation of this receptor is said to initiate intracellular signaling cascades that influence the actin cytoskeleton, affecting dendritic branching and spine morphology, and thereby modulating synaptic strength. In some narratives, dendritin participates in learning-related plasticity, while other accounts portray it as involved in neuroprotection or, conversely, in neurodegeneration. It is important to note that there is no peer-reviewed evidence supporting the existence of dendritin as a real molecule in living systems; it does not appear in established biochemical catalogs and is not used in experimental neuroscience.

In textbooks and teaching materials, dendritin is employed as a didactic tool to demonstrate key concepts such as ligand–receptor interactions, second messenger signaling, cytoskeletal remodeling, and the experimental considerations necessary to validate molecular roles in neurons. See also: dendrite, neural plasticity, signal transduction, cytoskeleton.