Glial Cells Mediate Target Layer Selection of Retinal Axons in the Developing Visual System of Drosophila
In the fly visual system, each class of photoreceptor neurons (R cells) projects to a different synaptic layer in the brain. R1–R6 axons terminate in the lamina, while R7 and R8 axons pass through the lamina and stop in the medulla. As R cell axons enter the lamina, they encounter both glial cells a...
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Published in | Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 99 - 113 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Elsevier Inc
2001
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | In the fly visual system, each class of photoreceptor neurons (R cells) projects to a different synaptic layer in the brain. R1–R6 axons terminate in the lamina, while R7 and R8 axons pass through the lamina and stop in the medulla. As R cell axons enter the lamina, they encounter both glial cells and neurons. The cellular requirement for R1–R6 targeting was determined using loss-of-function mutations affecting different cell types in the lamina.
nonstop (encoding a ubiquitin-specific protease) is required for glial cell development and
hedgehog for neuronal development. Removal of glial cells but not neurons disrupts R1–R6 targeting. We propose that glial cells provide the initial stop signal promoting growth cone termination in the lamina. These findings uncover a novel function for neuron–glial interactions in regulating target specificity. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0896-6273 1097-4199 |
DOI: | 10.1016/S0896-6273(01)00183-0 |