Slit-Robo signaling supports motor neuron avoidance of the spinal cord midline through DCC antagonism and other mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: Axon pathfinding and neuronal migration are orchestrated by attractive and repulsive guidance cues. In the mouse spinal cord, repulsion from Slit proteins through Robo family receptors and attraction to Netrin-1, mediated by the receptor DCC, control many aspects of neural circuit formation. This includes motor neuron wiring, where Robos help prevent both motor neuron cell bodies and axons from aberrantly crossing the spinal cord midline. These functions had been ascribed to Robo signaling being required to counter DCC-mediated attraction to Netrin-1 at the midline, either by mediating repulsion from midline-derived Slits or by silencing DCC signaling. However, the role of DCC in promoting motor neuron and axon midline crossing had not been directly tested. Here, we used in vivo mou

SUBMITTER: Nickerson KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12018395 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature