Neuronal Guidance: The Biology of Brain Wiring (Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology)

Neuronal guidance is a critical mechanism during the development of the nervous system. The developing neuron responds to cues from its surroundings that influence the direction in which it grows and ultimately the connections it makes with its targets. These cues can be attractive or repulsive and are provided by both soluble and cell-surface molecules (e.g. netrins and ephrins, respectively). Receptors on the surface of the neuronal growth cones bind to these cues, relaying intracellular signals that ultimately result in cytoskeletal rearrangements that cause the growing axon to extend toward and away from the source of the cue. The field thus sits at the interface of cell, developmental and neurobiology, and tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of it in recent years.