Axon guidance by diffusible repellants and attractants.
Diffusible guidance cues are now understood to play an important role in axon guidance. The past year saw the first evidence for long-range chemorepulsion of axons, and the identification of a diffusible growth cone collapse-inducing protein, collapsin. Evidence was obtained against a chemoattractant role for nerve growth factor in vivo. A neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, was shown to be capable of acting as a diffusible attractant, but, as with nerve growth factor, whether it has this function in vivo is unknown.
Tessier-Lavigne
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Program in Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0452.
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000502:physiology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000196:embryology; D017978:Receptors, Growth Factor / Q000502:physiology; D040121:Semaphorin-3A; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology; D018523:Tropism
D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D006023:Glycoproteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D017978:Receptors, Growth Factor; D040121:Semaphorin-3A; D000109:Acetylcholine