Journal
NEURON
Volume 53, Issue 2, Pages 169-184Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.12.024
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In the olfactory system of Drosophila, 50 functional classes of sensory receptor neurons (ORNs) project in a highly organized fashion into the CNS, where they sort out from one another and converge into distinct synaptic glomeruli. We identified the transmembrane molecule Semaphorin-la (Sema-la) as an essential component to ensure glomerulus-specific axon segregation. Removal of sema-la in ORNs does not affect the pathfinding toward their target area but disrupts local axonal convergence into a single glomerulus, resulting in two distinct targeting phenotypes: axons either intermingle with adjacent ORN classes or segregate according to their odorant receptor identity into ectopic sites. Differential Sema-1 a expression can be detected among neighboring glomeruli, and mosaic analyses show that sema-la functions nonautonomously in ORN axon sorting. These findings provide insights into the mechanism by which afferent interactions lead to synaptic specificity in the olfactory system.
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