Choosing the road less traveled by: a ligand-receptor system that controls target recognition by Drosophila motor axons.
In this issue of Genes & Development, Siebert and colleagues (pp. 1052-1062) define a ligand-receptor system that controls motor axon guidance and target recognition in the Drosophila embryo. The beaten path (beat) and sidestep (side) genes were known to be important regulators of motor axon guidance. Siebert and colleagues now show that Beat and Side are cell surface proteins that physically interact with each other, and that Beat-expressing motor axon growth cones reach their targets via recognition of Side-expressing pathways.
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA. zinnk@caltech.edu
Kai
K
Zinn
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008024:Ligands; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C103224:beat-Ia protein, Drosophila; C425543:side protein, Drosophila