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Neuronal activity–dependent processes are believed to mediate the formation of synaptic connections during neocortical development, but the underlying intracellular mechanisms are not known. In the visual system, altering the pattern of visually driven neuronal activity by monocular deprivation induces cortical synaptic rearrangement during a postnatal developmental window, the critical period. Here,...
Axon pathfinding and target choice are governed by cell type–specific responses to external cues. Here, we show that in the Drosophila embryo, motorneurons with targets in the dorsal muscle field express the homeobox gene even-skipped and that this expression is necessary and sufficient to direct motor axons into the dorsal muscle field. Previously, it was shown that motorneurons projecting to ventral...
Short-term synaptic enhancement is caused by an increase in the probability with which synaptic terminals release transmitter in response to presynaptic action potentials. Since exocytosed vesicles are drawn from a readily releasable pool of packaged transmitter, enhancement must result either from an increase in the size of the pool or an elevation in the fraction of releasable vesicles that undergoes...
The ability of neuronal growth cones to be guided by extracellular cues requires intimate communication between signal transduction systems and the dynamic actin-based cytoskeleton at the leading edge. Profilin, a small, actin-binding protein, has been proposed to be a regulator of the cell motility machinery at leading edge membranes. However, its requirement in the developing nervous system has...
Changes in specific cell–cell recognition and adhesion interactions between neurons and radial glial cells regulate neuronal migration as well as the establishment of distinct layers in the developing cerebral cortex. Here, we show that α3β1 integrin is necessary for neuron–glial recognition during neuronal migration and that αV integrins provide optimal levels of the basic neuron–glial adhesion needed...
To understand the elementary unit of synaptic communication between CNS neurons, one must know what causes the variability of quantal postsynaptic currents and whether unitary packets of transmitter saturate postsynaptic receptors. We studied single excitatory synapses between hippocampal neurons in culture. Focal glutamate application at individual postsynaptic sites evoked currents (Iglu) with little...
Mammalian enabled (Mena) is a member of a protein family thought to link signal transduction pathways to localized remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. Mena binds directly to Profilin, an actin-binding protein that modulates actin polymerization. In primary neurons, Mena is concentrated at the tips of growth cone filopodia. Mena-deficient mice are viable; however, axons projecting from interhemispheric...
Activity-dependent competition is thought to guide the normal development of specific patterns of neural connections. Such competition generally favors more active inputs, making them larger and stronger, while less active inputs become smaller and weaker. We pharmacologically inhibited the activity of visual cortical cells and measured the three-dimensional structure of inputs serving the two eyes...
Firing patterns of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OF) were analyzed in rats trained to perform a task that encouraged incidental associations between distinct odors and the places where their occurrence was detected. Many of the neurons fired differentially when the animals were at a particular location or sampled particular odors. Furthermore, a substantial fraction of the cells exhibited odor-specific...
Genetic analysis of growth cone guidance choice points in Drosophila identified neuronal receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) as key determinants of axon pathfinding behavior. We now demonstrate that the Drosophila Abl tyrosine kinase functions in the intersegmental nerve b (ISNb) motor choice point pathway as an antagonist of the RPTP Dlar. The function of Abl in this pathway is dependent...
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