title: Avoiding the SCAMs.
abstract: Dendrites from the same neuron usually avoid contact with one another, a behavior known as self-avoidance. In this issue of Neuron and in the upcoming May 4, 2007 issue of Cell, a pair of studies by Soba et al. and Hughes et al. and a study by Matthews et al., respectively, identify products from the highly alternatively spliced Dscam gene as central to this behavior in Drosophila. Signaling induced by adhesion between identical isoforms triggers repulsion between sister dendrites.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department/MS 314, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA. tkidd@unr.edu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Condron
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C491736:Dscam1 protein, Drosophila