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PMID: 16928876 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Axon guidance by diffusible chemoattractants: a gradient of netrin protein in the developing spinal cord.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience ·Vol. 26 ·No. 34 ·2006-08-23 ·Pages 8866-74

Kennedy TE, Wang H, Marshall W, Tessier-Lavigne M

Abstract

Gradients of diffusible long-range attractant and repellent proteins have been proposed to guide growing axons during nervous system development, but such gradients have never been visualized directly. In the embryonic spinal cord, commissural axons pioneer a circumferential trajectory to the floor plate at the ventral midline directed by secreted proteins of the netrin family. In the embryonic chick spinal cord netrin-1 mRNA is expressed by floor plate cells and netrin-2 mRNA by neural epithelial cells. Antibodies to the two netrins reveal a gradient of netrin protein directly in the path of commissural axons. The netrin-1 gradient itself extends many cell diameters dorsal to the floor plate, the site of netrin-1 expression. A similar distribution of netrin-1 protein has been detected in embryonic rat and mouse spinal cord. The detection of a gradient of netrin-1 protein supports the operation of long-range chemotropic mechanisms in the developing nervous system.

MeSH Terms
Animals Axons/physiology Chemotactic Factors/metabolism,physiology Chick Embryo Embryo, Mammalian/metabolism,physiology Embryonic Development Growth Cones/physiology Immunohistochemistry Mice Nerve Growth Factors/metabolism,physiology Netrin-1 Netrins Rats Spinal Cord/embryology Tissue Distribution Tumor Suppressor Proteins/metabolism,physiology
Chemicals
Chemotactic Factors Nerve Growth Factors Netrins Ntn1 protein, mouse Ntn1 protein, rat Tumor Suppressor Proteins Netrin-1 netrin-2
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Kennedy Timothy E
Department of Anatomy, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.
Wang Hao
Marshall Wallace
Tessier-Lavigne Marc
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Abbr.
J Neurosci
ISSN
1529-2401
DOI
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5191-05.2006
Published
2006-08-23
Pages
8866-74
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8102140
PMCID
PMC6674364
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5191-05.2006 PMC Full Text View journal details
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