Eph receptor expression defines midline boundaries for ephrin-positive migratory neurons in the enteric nervous system of Manduca sexta.

ABSTRACT: Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands participate in the control of neuronal growth and migration in a variety of contexts, but the mechanisms by which they guide neuronal motility are still incompletely understood. By using the enteric nervous system (ENS) of the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta as a model system, we have explored whether Manduca ephrin (MsEphrin; a GPI-linked ligand) and its Eph receptor (MsEph) might regulate the migration and outgrowth of enteric neurons. During formation of the Manduca ENS, an identified set of approximately 300 neurons (EP cells) populates the enteric plexus of the midgut by migrating along a specific set of muscle bands forming on the gut, but the neurons strictly avoid adjacent interband regions. By determining the mRNA and protein e

SUBMITTER: Coate TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1828045 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature