Axon Growth and Guidance / Edition 1

by Dominique Bagnard

Overview

This book proposes an updated view of the current knowledge of the molecular and cellular mechanisms ensuring axon growth and guidance. The introductory chapter will remind the readers of all the features of a growth cone and the mechanisms controlling its growth. From there, one enters a fabulous journey with a growth cone, a Tom Thumb story filled with molecular encounters and complex interactions leading to one of the most fantastic developmental achievements: the nervous system wiring. The journey starts with a description of the classical guidance signals such as the netrins, the semaphorins, the ephrins or the Slit family. The question of the exact definition of a guidance signal is addressed in a chapter which discusses whether neurotrophic factors can be considered as guidance cues. This complex question is also considered in a chapter presenting the role of adhesion molecules during axon guidance and the report of compelling evidence for a guidance effect of neurotransmitters. The diversity of the molecular cues used by growth cones to reach their targets is finally illustrated in a chapter describing the unexpected role of morphogenes as direct guidance signals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441926340
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	11/19/2010
Series:	Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology Series , #621
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 2007
Pages:	170
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.76(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

CONTENT Contents xiii PREFACE ........................................................................................................... vii 1. MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF AXONAL GROWTH ........................ 1 Céline Bouquet and Fatiha Nothias Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 The Neuronal Growth Cone and its Cytoskeletal Organization ..................................... 1 Mechanisms of Axonal Elongation ..................................................................................... 6 Regulation of the Cytoskeleton by Extracellular Cues, Role of Rho-GTPases .................................................................................................. 7 Growth Cone of Regenerating Axons .............................................................................. 10 2. NETRINS AND THEIR RECEPTORS........................................................ 17 Simon W. Moore, Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Timothy E. Kennedy Introduction .......................................................................................................................17 Netrin Structure .................................................................................................................19 Functional Roles for Netrins during Nervous System Development ............................21 Netrin Signal Transduction...............................................................................................22 Netrin in the Adult Nervous System ................................................................................ 25 Conclusion and Perspectives ............................................................................................26 3. EPH RECEPTORS AND EPHRIN LIGANDS IN AXON GUIDANCE........................................................................ 32 Michael Reber, Robert Hindges and Greg Lemke Introduction .......................................................................................................................32 Molecular Structure .......................................................................................................... 32 Mechanisms of Signal Transduction ................................................................................ 34 Functional Implication during Nervous System Development ..................................... 39 Conclusion and Perspectives ............................................................................................44 4. ROLE OF SEMAPHORINS DURING AXON GROWTH AND GUIDANCE ................................................................................ 50 Eric Koncina, Lise Roth, Bertand Gonthier and Dominique Bagnard Introduction .......................................................................................................................50 Functional Roles of Semaphorins during Axon Guidance ............................................. 50 Receptors of Secreted-Semaphorins: The Neuropilins .................................................. 52 Receptors of Transmembrane-Semaphorins: The Plexin Family .................................53 Other Receptors Associated with Semaphorin Signaling .............................................. 54 Intracellular Signal Transduction ....................................................................................56 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 59 xiv Contents 5. SLITS AND THEIR RECEPTORS .............................................................. 65 Alain