Reverse signaling via a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-linked ephrin prevents midline crossing by migratory neurons during embryonic development in Manduca.

ABSTRACT: We have investigated whether reverse signaling via a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked ephrin controls the behavior of migratory neurons in vivo. During the formation of the enteric nervous system (ENS) in the moth Manduca, approximately 300 neurons [enteric plexus (EP) cells] migrate onto the midgut via bilaterally paired muscle bands but avoid adjacent midline regions. As they migrate, the EP cells express a single ephrin ligand (MsEphrin; a GPI-linked ligand), whereas the midline cells express the corresponding Eph receptor (MsEph). Blocking endogenous MsEphrin-MsEph receptor interactions in cultured embryos resulted in aberrant midline crossing by the neurons and their processes. In contrast, activating endogenous MsEphrin on the EP cells with dimeric MsEph-Fc constructs inhib

SUBMITTER: Coate TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2879879 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature