Endothelins are vascular-derived axonal guidance cues for developing sympathetic neurons.

ABSTRACT: During development, sympathetic neurons extend axons along a myriad of distinct trajectories, often consisting of arteries, to innervate one of a large variety of distinct final target tissues. Whether or not subsets of neurons within complex sympathetic ganglia are predetermined to innervate select end-organs is unknown. Here we demonstrate in mouse embryos that the endothelin family member Edn3 (ref. 1), acting through the endothelin receptor EdnrA (refs 2, 3), directs extension of axons of a subset of sympathetic neurons from the superior cervical ganglion to a preferred intermediate target, the external carotid artery, which serves as the gateway to select targets, including the salivary glands. These findings establish a previously unknown mechanism of axonal pathfinding involving vas

SUBMITTER: Makita T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2713667 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature