Journal
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 10, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.814160
Keywords
neuroregeneration; C. elegans; semaphorins; plexins; locomotion; regeneration; laser microsurgery
Categories
Funding
- NINDS of the National Institutes of Health [1R15NS125565-01]
- State of New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research [CSCR14ERG002, CSCR16IRG013]
- IOS of the National Science Foundation [2034864]
- NJIT Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) - NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs [P40 OD010440]
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
- Direct For Biological Sciences [2034864] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Extracellular signaling proteins play a crucial role in neuronal growth and development, and they are also involved in neuronal regeneration and injury recovery. In this study, we investigated the role of semaphorins and plexins, a family of conserved proteins, in the locomotion behavior and neuronal morphology of Caenorhabditis elegans. We found that the absence of plexins promoted regrowth and reconnection of motoneuron neurites, and the recovery of locomotion behavior was even better than the regeneration process.
Extracellular signaling proteins serve as neuronal growth cone guidance molecules during development and are well positioned to be involved in neuronal regeneration and recovery from injury. Semaphorins and their receptors, the plexins, are a family of conserved proteins involved in development that, in the nervous system, are axonal guidance cues mediating axon pathfinding and synapse formation. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome encodes for three semaphorins and two plexin receptors: the transmembrane semaphorins, SMP-1 and SMP-2, signal through their receptor, PLX-1, while the secreted semaphorin, MAB-20, signals through PLX-2. Here, we evaluate the locomotion behavior of knockout animals missing each of the semaphorins and plexins and the neuronal morphology of plexin knockout animals; we described the cellular expression pattern of the promoters of all plexins in the nervous system of C. elegans; and we evaluated their effect on the regrowth and reconnection of motoneuron neurites and the recovery of locomotion behavior following precise laser microsurgery. Regrowth and reconnection were more prevalent in the absence of each plexin, while recovery of locomotion surpassed regeneration in all genotypes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available