Wiring of the brain by a range of guidance cues.
During development of the central nervous system, growth cones navigate along specific pathways, recognize their targets and then form synaptic connections by elaborating terminal arbors. To date, a number of developmental and in vitro studies have characterized the nature of the guidance cues that underlie various types of axonal behavior, from initial outgrowth to synapse formation, including pathway selection, polarized growth, orientated growth, termination and branching. New approaches in molecular biology have identified several types of guidance cues, most of which are likely to act as local cues. Moreover, recent studies have indicated that axonal responsiveness to guidance cues changes dynamically, which appears to be elicited by environmental factors encountered by the navigating growth cones. This article addresses what molecular cues are responsible for guidance mechanisms including axonal responsiveness, focusing on axonal behavior in the developmental stages.
Yamamoto
Nobuhiko
N
Laboratory of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.
Tamada
Atsushi
A
Murakami
Fujio
F
D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D020439:Growth Cones / Q000502:physiology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000502:physiology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000254:growth & development*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*
D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins