The intricate relationship between microtubules and their associated motor proteins during axon growth and maintenance.

ABSTRACT: The hallmarks of neurons are their slender axons which represent the longest cellular processes of animals and which act as the cables that electrically wire the brain, and the brain to the body. Axons extend along reproducible paths during development and regeneration, and they have to be maintained for the lifetime of an organism. Both axon extension and maintenance essentially depend on the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton. For this, MTs organize into parallel bundles that are established through extension at the leading axon tips within growth cones, and these bundles then form the architectural backbones, as well as the highways for axonal transport essential for supply and intracellular communication. Axon transport over these enormous distances takes days or even weeks and is a substan

SUBMITTER: Prokop A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3846809 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature