Axon Growth and Guidance
| Series: | |
| Publisher: | Springer New York |
| Subject: | Axons--Physiology, Nervous system--Regeneration. |
| Authors: | Dominique Bagnard |
| Pages: | 170 pages |
| Binding: | Hardcover |
| ISBN: | 9780387767147 |
| Call No: | QP 363. A92 2007 |
The complex architecture of neuronal networks together with the extraordinary associated functions make the nervous system a fascinating biological structure. The considerable work performed to explore this cellular machinery is nowadays successful because the mystery of nervous system development is being unraveled. As described in their outstanding review published 10 years ago in Science.' Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Corey Goodman-the pioneers of the molecular era of axon guidance-summarized the assembly of nervous system connections as a subtle game of attraction and repulsion of neuronal growth cones. The cellular ballet ensuring the formation of billions of synapses, which ultimately gives rise to the highest cognitive functions, is primarily orchestrated by a step-by-step mechanism of growth driven by multiple molecular cues. While our general concept of axon guidance remains identical, a profound evolution of our knowledge of the molecular identity of the guidance cues together with their interactions and signaling pathways occurred over the past ten years. This book proposes an exhaustive and updated view of the current knowledge of the molecular and cellular mechanisms ensuring axon growth and guidance. An introductory chapter by C. Bouquet and F.Nothias will remind the readers of all the features of the growth cone and the mechanisms controlling its growth. From there, one enters a fabulous journey with a growth cone, a Tom Thumb story filled with molecular encounters and complex interactions leading to one of the most fantastic developmental achievements: the nervous system wiring.