TY - JOUR
T1 - Directional guidance of nerve growth cones
AU - Wen, Zhexing
AU - Zheng, James Q.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank J Alder (UMDNJ-R.W. Johnson Medical School, Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology) for her valuable comments on the manuscript. The authors are supported by research grants NS 036241 from National Institutes of Health (NIH) and IBN-0109776 from the National Science Foundation.
PY - 2006/2
Y1 - 2006/2
N2 - The intricate connections of the nervous system are established, in part, by elongating axonal fibers that are directed by complex guidance systems to home in on their specific targets. The growth cone, the major motile apparatus at the tip of axons, explores its surroundings and steers the axon along a defined path to its appropriate target. Significant progress has been made in identifying the guidance molecules and receptors that regulate growth cone pathfinding, the signaling cascades underlying distinct growth cone behaviors, and the cytoskeletal components that give rise to the directional motility of the growth cone. Recent studies have also shed light on the sophisticated mechanisms and new players utilized by the growth cone during pathfinding. It is clear that axon pathfinding requires a growth cone to sample and integrate various signals both in space and in time, and subsequently to coordinate the dynamics of its membrane, cytoskeleton and adhesion to generate specific responses.
AB - The intricate connections of the nervous system are established, in part, by elongating axonal fibers that are directed by complex guidance systems to home in on their specific targets. The growth cone, the major motile apparatus at the tip of axons, explores its surroundings and steers the axon along a defined path to its appropriate target. Significant progress has been made in identifying the guidance molecules and receptors that regulate growth cone pathfinding, the signaling cascades underlying distinct growth cone behaviors, and the cytoskeletal components that give rise to the directional motility of the growth cone. Recent studies have also shed light on the sophisticated mechanisms and new players utilized by the growth cone during pathfinding. It is clear that axon pathfinding requires a growth cone to sample and integrate various signals both in space and in time, and subsequently to coordinate the dynamics of its membrane, cytoskeleton and adhesion to generate specific responses.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.conb.2005.12.005
DO - 10.1016/j.conb.2005.12.005
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16387488
AN - SCOPUS:32344435872
SN - 0959-4388
VL - 16
SP - 52
EP - 58
JO - Current Opinion in Neurobiology
JF - Current Opinion in Neurobiology
IS - 1
ER -