Motor neuron cell bodies are actively positioned by Slit/Robo repulsion and Netrin/DCC attraction.

ABSTRACT: Motor neurons differentiate from a ventral column of progenitors and settle in static clusters, the motor nuclei, next to the floor plate. Within these cell clusters, motor neurons receive afferent input and project their axons out to muscle targets. The molecular mechanisms that position motor neurons in the neural tube remain poorly understood. The floor plate produces several types of guidance cues with well-known roles in attracting and repelling axons, including the Slit family of chemorepellents via their Robo receptors, and Netrin1 via its DCC attractive receptor. In the present study we found that Islet1(+) motor neuron cell bodies invaded the floor plate of Robo1/2 double mutant mouse embryos or Slit1/2/3 triple mutants. Misplaced neurons were born in their normal progenitor colum

SUBMITTER: Kim M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4339514 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature