Articles

A forward genetic screen with a thalamocortical axon reporter mouse yields novel neurodevelopment mutants and a distinct emx2 mutant phenotype

The dorsal thalamus acts as a gateway and modulator for information going to and from the cerebral cortex. This activity requires the formation of reciprocal topographic axon connections between thalamus and c...

Authors: Noelle D Dwyer, Danielle K Manning, Jennifer L Moran, Raksha Mudbhary, Michael S Fleming, Carlita B Favero, Vita M Vock, Dennis DM O'Leary, Christopher A Walsh and David R Beier

5-HT receptors mediate lineage-dependent effects of serotonin on adult neurogenesis in Procambarus clarkii

Serotonin (5-HT) is a potent regulator of adult neurogenesis in the crustacean brain, as in the vertebrate brain. However, there are relatively few data regarding the mechanisms of serotonin's action and which...

Authors: Yi Zhang, Jeanne L Benton and Barbara S Beltz

Meningeal cells and glia establish a permissive environment for axon regeneration after spinal cord injury in newts

Newts have the remarkable ability to regenerate their spinal cords as adults. Their spinal cords regenerate with the regenerating tail after tail amputation, as well as after a gap-inducing spinal cord injury ...

Authors: Katherine A Zukor, David T Kent and Shannon J Odelberg

Developmental control of lateralized neuron size in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Nervous systems are generally bilaterally symmetric on a gross structural and organizational level but are strongly lateralized (left/right asymmetric) on a functional level. It has been previously noted that ...

Authors: Andrew D Goldsmith, Sumeet Sarin, Shawn Lockery and Oliver Hobert

Homologs of genes expressed in Caenorhabditis elegans GABAergic neurons are also found in the developing mouse forebrain

In an effort to identify genes that specify the mammalian forebrain, we used a comparative approach to identify mouse homologs of transcription factors expressed in developing Caenorhabditis elegans GABAergic neu...

Authors: Elizabeth AD Hammock, Kathie L Eagleson, Susan Barlow, Laurie R Earls, David M Miller III and Pat Levitt

Two novel human NUMB isoforms provide a potential link between development and cancer

We previously identified four functionally distinct human NUMB isoforms. Here, we report the identification of two additional isoforms and propose a link between the expression of these isoforms and cancer. Th...

Authors: Aldona Karaczyn, Mahmud Bani-Yaghoub, Roger Tremblay, Chris Kubu, Rebecca Cowling, Tamara L Adams, Igor Prudovsky, Douglas Spicer, Robert Friesel, Calvin Vary and Joseph M Verdi

Pro-neurotrophins secreted from retinal ganglion cell axons are necessary for ephrinA-p75^NTR-mediated axon guidance

Retinotectal map formation develops via topographically specific guidance and branching of retinal axons in their target area. This process is controlled, in part, by reverse signalling of ephrinAs expressed o...

Authors: Katharine JM Marler, Subathra Poopalasundaram, Emma R Broom, Corinna Wentzel and Uwe Drescher

In vivo development of dendritic orientation in wild-type and mislocalized retinal ganglion cells

Many neurons in the central nervous system, including retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), possess asymmetric dendritic arbors oriented toward their presynaptic partners. How such dendritic arbors become biased duri...

Authors: Jung-Hwan Choi, Mei-Yee Law, Chi-Bin Chien, Brian A Link and Rachel OL Wong

Ihog and Boi are essential for Hedgehog signaling in Drosophila

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is important for the development of a variety of tissues in both vertebrates and invertebrates. For example, in developing nervous systems Hh signaling is required for the n...

Authors: Darius Camp, Ko Currie, Alain Labbé, Donald J van Meyel and Frédéric Charron

RBP-J is not required for granule neuron progenitor development and medulloblastoma initiated by Hedgehog pathway activation in the external germinal layer

The Notch signalling pathway plays crucial roles in neural development, functioning by preventing premature differentiation and promotion of glial cell fates. In the developing cerebellum Notch pathway compone...

Authors: Elaine Julian, Andrew R Hallahan and Brandon J Wainwright

Drosophilatype II neuroblast lineages keep Prospero levels low to generate large clones that contribute to the adult brain central complex

Tissue homeostasis depends on the ability of stem cells to properly regulate self-renewal versus differentiation. Drosophila neural stem cells (neuroblasts) are a model system to study self-renewal and differenti...

Authors: Omer Ali Bayraktar, Jason Q Boone, Michael L Drummond and Chris Q Doe

Context-dependent functions of specific microRNAs in neuronal development

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate multiple developmental processes at the post-transcriptional level. Recent rapid progresses have demonstrated critical roles for a number of miRNAs in ...

Authors: Fen-Biao Gao

Enrichment and differential targeting of complexins 3 and 4 in ribbon-containing sensory neurons during zebrafish development

In sensory systems with broad bandwidths, polarized receptor cells utilize highly specialized organelles in their apical and basolateral compartments to transduce and ultimately transmit signals to the rest of...

Authors: George Zanazzi and Gary Matthews

Migration, early axonogenesis, and Reelin-dependent layer-forming behavior of early/posterior-born Purkinje cells in the developing mouse lateral cerebellum

Cerebellar corticogenesis begins with the assembly of Purkinje cells into the Purkinje plate (PP) by embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5) in mice. Although the dependence of PP formation on the secreted protein Reelin i...

Authors: Takaki Miyata, Yuichi Ono, Mayumi Okamoto, Makoto Masaoka, Akira Sakakibara, Ayano Kawaguchi, Mitsuhiro Hashimoto and Masaharu Ogawa

Meis1 specifies positional information in the retina and tectum to organize the zebrafish visual system

During visual system development, multiple signalling pathways cooperate to specify axial polarity within the retina and optic tectum. This information is required for the topographic mapping of retinal gangli...

Authors: Timothy Erickson, Curtis R French and Andrew J Waskiewicz

Nolz1 promotes striatal neurogenesis through the regulation of retinoic acid signaling

Nolz1 is a zinc finger transcription factor whose expression is enriched in the lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE), although its function is still unknown.

Authors: Noelia Urbán, Raquel Martín-Ibáñez, Cristina Herranz, Miriam Esgleas, Empar Crespo, Monica Pardo, Ivan Crespo-Enríquez, Héctor R Méndez-Gómez, Ronald Waclaw, Christina Chatzi, Susana Álvarez, Rosana Álvarez, Gregg Duester, Kenneth Campbell, Angel R de Lera, Carlos Vicario-Abejón…

Axon fasciculation in the developing olfactory nerve

Olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) axons exit the olfactory epithelium (OE) and extend toward the olfactory bulb (OB) where they coalesce into glomeruli. Each OSN expresses only 1 of approximately 1,200 odor recep...

Authors: Alexandra M Miller, Lydia R Maurer, Dong-Jing Zou, Stuart Firestein and Charles A Greer

Erratum To: Analysis of a zebrafish dync1h1mutant reveals multiple functions for cytoplasmic dynein 1 during retinal photoreceptor development

Authors: Christine Insinna, Lisa M Baye, Adam Amsterdam, Joseph C Besharse and Brian A Link

Induction of early Purkinje cell dendritic differentiation by thyroid hormone requires RORα

The active form (T₃) of thyroid hormone (TH) controls critical aspects of cerebellar development, such as migration of postmitotic neurons and terminal dendritic differentiation of Purkinje cells. The effects of ...

Authors: Fatiha Boukhtouche, Bernard Brugg, Rosine Wehrlé, Brigitte Bois-Joyeux, Jean-Louis Danan, Isabelle Dusart and Jean Mariani

Ependymal alterations in sudden intrauterine unexplained death and sudden infant death syndrome: possible primary consequence of prenatal exposure to cigarette smoking

The ependyma, the lining providing a protective barrier and filtration system separating brain parenchyma from cerebrospinal fluid, is still inadequately understood in humans. In this study we aimed to define,...

Authors: Anna M Lavezzi, Melissa F Corna and Luigi Matturri

Slit and Netrin-1 guide cranial motor axon pathfinding via Rho-kinase, myosin light chain kinase and myosin II

In the developing hindbrain, cranial motor axon guidance depends on diffusible repellent factors produced by the floor plate. Our previous studies have suggested that candidate molecules for mediating this eff...

Authors: Ailish Murray, Arifa Naeem, Sarah H Barnes, Uwe Drescher and Sarah Guthrie

Assembly of the outer retina in the absence of GABA synthesis in horizontal cells

The inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) not only modulates excitability in the mature nervous system but also regulates neuronal differentiation and circuit development. Horizontal cell...

Authors: Timm Schubert, Rachel M Huckfeldt, Edward Parker, John E Campbell and Rachel OL Wong

Sonic hedgehogexpressing and responding cells generate neuronal diversity in the medial amygdala

The mammalian amygdala is composed of two primary functional subdivisions, classified according to whether the major output projection of each nucleus is excitatory or inhibitory. The posterior dorsal and vent...

Authors: Rosalind SE Carney, Jean-Marie Mangin, Lindsay Hayes, Kevin Mansfield, Vitor H Sousa, Gord Fishell, Robert P Machold, Sohyun Ahn, Vittorio Gallo and Joshua G Corbin

FGF dependent regulation of Zfhx1b gene expression promotes the formation of definitive neural stem cells in the mouse anterior neurectoderm

Mouse definitive neural stem cells (NSCs) are derived from a population of LIF-responsive primitive neural stem cells (pNSCs) within the neurectoderm, yet details on the early signaling and transcriptional mec...

Authors: Lan TH Dang and Vincent Tropepe

Analysis of a zebrafish dync1h1mutant reveals multiple functions for cytoplasmic dynein 1 during retinal photoreceptor development

Photoreceptors of the retina are highly compartmentalized cells that function as the primary sensory neurons for receiving and initiating transmission of visual information. Proper morphogenesis of photorecept...

Authors: Christine Insinna, Lisa M Baye, Adam Amsterdam, Joseph C Besharse and Brian A Link

Pharmacological manipulation of GABA-driven activity in ovo disrupts the development of dendritic morphology but not the maturation of spinal cord network activity

In the adult nervous system, GABA acts as a major inhibitory neurotransmitter; however, at early stages of neurodevelopment, GABA receptor activation leads to membrane depolarization and accumulation of [Ca²⁺]_i. ...

Authors: Yone J Yoon, Alexander P Gokin and Miguel Martin-Caraballo

Dynamics of glutamatergic signaling in the mushroom body of young adult Drosophila

The mushroom bodies (MBs) are paired brain centers located in the insect protocerebrum involved in olfactory learning and memory and other associative functions. Processes from the Kenyon cells (KCs), their in...

Authors: Irina Sinakevitch, Yves Grau, Nicholas J Strausfeld and Serge Birman

The neuroepithelial basement membrane serves as a boundary and a substrate for neuron migration in the zebrafish hindbrain

The facial branchiomotor neurons of cranial nerve VII undergo a stereotyped tangential migration in the zebrafish hindbrain that provides an ideal system for examining the complex interactions between neurons ...

Authors: Paul K Grant and Cecilia B Moens

Cortico-cerebral histogenesis in the opossum Monodelphis domestica: generation of a hexalaminar neocortex in the absence of a basal proliferative compartment

The metatherian Monodelphis domestica, commonly known as the South-American short-tailed opossum, is an appealing animal model for developmental studies on cortico-cerebral development. Given its phylogenetic pos...

Authors: Elisa Puzzolo and Antonello Mallamaci

Insulin receptor signaling in the development of neuronal structure and function

Sensory experience plays a crucial role in regulating neuronal shape and in developing synaptic contacts during brain formation. These features are required for a neuron to receive, integrate, and transmit sig...

Authors: Shu-Ling Chiu and Hollis T Cline

Nav2 is necessary for cranial nerve development and blood pressure regulation

All-trans retinoic acid (atRA) is required for nervous system development, including the developing hindbrain region. Neuron navigator 2 (Nav2) was first identified as an atRA-responsive gene in human neuroblasto...

Authors: Elizabeth M McNeill, Kenneth P Roos, Dieder Moechars and Margaret Clagett-Dame

Remodeling of inhibitory synaptic connections in developing ferret visual cortex

In the visual cortex, as in many other regions of the developing brain, excitatory synaptic connections undergo substantial remodeling during development. While evidence suggests that local inhibitory synapses...

Authors: Matthew B Dalva

The unfulfilled gene is required for the development of mushroom body neuropil in Drosophila

The mushroom bodies (MBs) of Drosophila are required for complex behaviors and consist of three types of neurons, γ, α'/β' and α/β. Previously, roles for transcription factors in MB neuronal differentiation have ...

Authors: Karen E Bates, Carl S Sung and Steven Robinow

Brn3a regulates neuronal subtype specification in the trigeminal ganglion by promoting Runx expression during sensory differentiation

The transcription factor Brn3a, product of the pou4f1 gene, is expressed in most sensory neurons throughout embryogenesis. Prior work has demonstrated a role for Brn3a in the repression of early neurogenic genes;...

Authors: Iain M Dykes, Jason Lanier, S Raisa Eng and Eric E Turner

Neurodevelopmental effects of chronic exposure to elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in a developing visual system

Imbalances in the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been increasingly correlated with a number of severe and prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, schizophreni...

Authors: Ryan H Lee, Elizabeth A Mills, Neil Schwartz, Mark R Bell, Katherine E Deeg, Edward S Ruthazer, Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong and Carlos D Aizenman

The F-box protein Cdc4/Fbxw7 is a novel regulator of neural crest development in Xenopus laevis

The neural crest is a unique population of cells that arise in the vertebrate ectoderm at the neural plate border after which they migrate extensively throughout the embryo, giving rise to a wide range of deri...

Authors: Alexandra D Almeida, Helen M Wise, Christopher J Hindley, Michael K Slevin, Rebecca S Hartley and Anna Philpott

Postembryonic development of transit amplifying neuroblast lineages in the Drosophila brain

Specific dorsomedial (DM) neuroblast lineages of the Drosophila brain amplify their proliferation through generation of transit amplifying intermediate progenitor cells. Together, these DM neuroblast lineages com...

Authors: Natalya Izergina, Jasmin Balmer, Bruno Bello and Heinrich Reichert

Multiple non-cell-autonomous defects underlie neocortical callosal dysgenesis in Nfib-deficient mice

Agenesis of the corpus callosum is associated with many human developmental syndromes. Key mechanisms regulating callosal formation include the guidance of axons arising from pioneering neurons in the cingulat...

Authors: Michael Piper, Randal X Moldrich, Charlotta Lindwall, Erica Little, Guy Barry, Sharon Mason, Nana Sunn, Nyoman Dana Kurniawan, Richard M Gronostajski and Linda J Richards

Gamma motor neurons express distinct genetic markers at birth and require muscle spindle-derived GDNF for postnatal survival

Gamma motor neurons (γ-MNs) selectively innervate muscle spindle intrafusal fibers and regulate their sensitivity to stretch. They constitute a distinct subpopulation that differs in morphology, physiology and...

Authors: Neil A Shneider, Meghan N Brown, Courtney A Smith, James Pickel and Francisco J Alvarez

Role of the Wnt receptor Frizzled-1 in presynaptic differentiation and function

The Wnt signaling pathway regulates several fundamental developmental processes and recently has been shown to be involved in different aspects of synaptic differentiation and plasticity. Some Wnt signaling compo...

Authors: Lorena Varela-Nallar, Catalina P Grabowski, Iván E Alfaro, Alejandra R Alvarez and Nibaldo C Inestrosa

Promotion of embryonic cortico-cerebral neuronogenesis by miR-124

Glutamatergic neurons of the murine cerebral cortex are generated within periventricular proliferative layers of the embryonic pallium, directly from apical precursors or indirectly via their basal progenies. ...

Authors: Nicola Antonio Maiorano and Antonello Mallamaci

Temporal patterns of broad isoform expression during the development of neuronal lineages in Drosophila

During the development of the central nervous system (CNS) of Drosophila, neuronal stem cells, the neuroblasts (NBs), first generate a set of highly diverse neurons, the primary neurons that mature to control lar...

Authors: Baohua Zhou, Darren W Williams, Janet Altman, Lynn M Riddiford and James W Truman

The Arp2/3 complex, UNC-115/abLIM, and UNC-34/Enabled regulate axon guidance and growth cone filopodia formation in Caenorhabditis elegans

While many molecules involved in axon guidance have been identified, the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which these molecules regulate growth cone morphology during axon outgrowth remain to be elucidated...

Authors: Adam D Norris, Jamie O Dyer and Erik A Lundquist

Multidendritic sensory neurons in the adult Drosophila abdomen: origins, dendritic morphology, and segment- and age-dependent programmed cell death

For the establishment of functional neural circuits that support a wide range of animal behaviors, initial circuits formed in early development have to be reorganized. One way to achieve this is local remodeli...

Authors: Kohei Shimono, Azusa Fujimoto, Taiichi Tsuyama, Misato Yamamoto-Kochi, Motohiko Sato, Yukako Hattori, Kaoru Sugimura, Tadao Usui, Ken-ichi Kimura and Tadashi Uemura

Notch activity in the nervous system: to switch or not switch?

The Notch pathway is instrumental for cell fate diversification during development. Pioneer studies conducted in Drosophila and more recent work performed in vertebrates have shown that in the nervous system, Not...

Authors: Elise Cau and Patrick Blader

Complex and dynamic patterns of Wnt pathway gene expression in the developing chick forebrain

Wnt signalling regulates multiple aspects of brain development in vertebrate embryos. A large number of Wnts are expressed in the embryonic forebrain; however, it is poorly understood which specific Wnt performs ...

Authors: Robyn Quinlan, Manuela Graf, Ivor Mason, Andrew Lumsden and Clemens Kiecker

Ptf1a is expressed transiently in all types of amacrine cells in the embryonic zebrafish retina

The vertebrate retina is composed of five major types of neurons: three excitatory (photoreceptors, bipolar cells and ganglion cells) and two inhibitory (horizontal and amacrine cells). The transcription facto...

Authors: Patricia R Jusuf and William A Harris

Glypican-1 controls brain size through regulation of fibroblast growth factor signaling in early neurogenesis

Cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) act as co-receptors for multiple families of growth factors that regulate animal cell proliferation, differentiation and patterning. Elimination of heparan su...

Authors: Yi-Huei Linda Jen, Michele Musacchio and Arthur D Lander

Dynamic Pax6 expression during the neurogenic cell cycle influences proliferation and cell fate choices of retinal progenitors

The paired homeobox protein Pax6 is essential for proliferation and pluripotency of retinal progenitors. However, temporal changes in Pax6 protein expression associated with the generation of various retinal n...

Authors: Yi-Wen Hsieh and Xian-Jie Yang

The Drosophila immunoglobulin gene turtle encodes guidance molecules involved in axon pathfinding

Neuronal growth cones follow specific pathways over long distances in order to reach their appropriate targets. Research over the past 15 years has yielded a large body of information concerning the molecules ...

Authors: Bader Al-Anzi and Robert J Wyman