Formin' bridges between microtubules and actin filaments in axonal growth cones

It is well established that guidance of axons during neuronal development is regulated by a variety of extracellular signals,governing cytoskeletal dynamics in growth cones.The actin and microtubule（MT）cytoskeleton have both been shown to play important roles.However,a growing body of work suggests that a critical issue is the proper coordination of changes within these two major cytoskeletal systems（reviewed in Cammara-ta et al., 2016）.

Proteoglycans: Road Signs for Neurite Outgrowth

Proteoglycans in the central nervous system play integral roles as ＂traffic signals＂ for the direction of neurite outgrowth. This attribute of proteoglycans is a major factor in regeneration of the injured central nervous system. In this review, the structures of proteoglycans and the evidence suggesting their involvement in the response following spinal cord injury are presented. The review further describes the methods routinely used to determine the effect proteoglycans have on neurite outgrowth. The effects of proteoglycans on neurite outgrowth are not completely understood as there is disagreement on what component of the molecule is interacting with growing neurites and this ambiguity is chronicled in an historical context. Finally, the most recent findings suggesting possible receptors, interactions, and sulfation patterns that may be important in eliciting the effect of proteoglycans on neurite outgrowth are discussed. A greater understanding of the proteoglycan-neurite interaction is necessary for successfully promoting regeneration in the iniured central nervous system.

Semaphorin 3A: from growth cone repellent to promoter of neuronal regeneration

Highlight Semaphorin 3A is a classically known axonal guidance cue that mediates axonal growth cone repulsion and collapse.Recent works,however,suggest that it may have the apparently diametrically opposite activity of promoting neuronal regeneration.

Promoting axon regeneration in the central nervous system by increasing PI3-kinase signaling

Much research has focused on the PI3-kinase and PTEN signaling pathway with the aim to stimulate repair of the injured central nervous system.Axons in the central nervous system fail to regenerate,meaning that injuries or diseases that cause loss of axonal connectivity have life-changing consequences.In 2008,genetic deletion of PTEN was identified as a means of stimulating robust regeneration in the optic nerve.PTEN is a phosphatase that opposes the actions of PI3-kinase,a family of enzymes that function to generate the membrane phospholipid PIP_(3) from PIP_(2)(phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)-trisphosphate from phosphatidylinositol(4,5)-bisphosphate).Deletion of PTEN therefore allows elevated signaling downstream of PI3-kinase,and was initially demonstrated to promote axon regeneration by signaling through mTOR.More recently,additional mechanisms have been identified that contribute to the neuron-intrinsic control of regenerative ability.This review describes neuronal signaling pathways downstream of PI3-kinase and PIP3,and considers them in relation to both developmental and regenerative axon growth.We briefly discuss the key neuron-intrinsic mechanisms that govern regenerative ability,and describe how these are affected by signaling through PI3-kinase.We highlight the recent finding of a developmental decline in the generation of PIP_(3) as a key reason for regenerative failure,and summarize the studies that target an increase in signaling downstream of PI3-kinase to facilitate regeneration in the adult central nervous system.Finally,we discuss obstacles that remain to be overcome in order to generate a robust strategy for repairing the injured central nervous system through manipulation of PI3-kinase signaling.

Cathepsins in neuronal plasticity

Proteases comprise a variety of enzymes defined by their ability to catalytically hydrolyze the peptide bonds of other proteins,resulting in protein lysis.Cathepsins,specifically,encompass a class of at least twenty proteases with potent endopeptidase activity.They are located subcellularly in lysosomes,organelles responsible for the cell’s degradative and autophagic processes,and are vital for normal lysosomal function.Although cathepsins are involved in a multitude of cell signaling activities,this chapter will focus on the role of cathepsins(with a special emphasis on Cathepsin B)in neuronal plasticity.We will broadly define what is known about regulation of cathepsins in the central nervous system and compare this with their dysregulation after injury or disease.Importantly,we will delineate what is currently known about the role of cathepsins in axon regeneration and plasticity after spinal cord injury.It is well established that normal cathepsin activity is integral to the function of lysosomes.Without normal lysosomal function,autophagy and other homeostatic cellular processes become dysregulated resulting in axon dystrophy.Furthermore,controlled activation of cathepsins at specialized neuronal structures such as axonal growth cones and dendritic spines have been positively implicated in their plasticity.This chapter will end with a perspective on the consequences of cathepsin dysregulation versus controlled,localized regulation to clarify how cathepsins can contribute to both neuronal plasticity and neurodegeneration.

EphA3 functions are regulated by collaborating phosphotyrosine residues

Ephrin ligands interact with Eph receptors to regulate a wide variety of biological and pathological processes. Recent studies have identified several downstream pathways that mediate the functions of these receptors. Activation of the receptors by ephrin binding results in the phosphorylation of the receptor tyrosine residues. These phospho- rylated residues serve as docking sites for many of the downstream signaling pathways. However, the relative contributions of different phosphotyrosine residues remain undefined. In the present study, we mutated each individual tyrosine residues in the cytoplasmic domain of EphA3 receptor and studied the effects using cell migration, process retraction, and growth cone collapse assays. Stimulation of the EphA3 receptor with ephrin-A5 inhibits 293A cell mi- gration, reduces NG108-15 cell neurite outgrowth, and induces growth cone collapse in hippocampal neurons. Muta- tion of either Y602 or Y779 alone partially decreases EphA3-induced responses. Full abrogation can only be achieved with mutations of both Y602 and Y779. These observations suggest a collaborative model of different downstream pathways.

Inhibition and reversal of growth cone collapse in adult sensory neurons by enteric glia-induced neurotrophic factors

Aim:Previous studies show enteric glia(EG)-conditioned medium promotes neurite outgrowth in adult dorsal root ganglia(DRG)derived sensory neurons.This EG-conditioned medium contains various neurotrophic factors,including nerve growth factor(NGF),brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),glial cell line-derived neurotropic factor(GDNF),and neurotrophin-3(NT-3).This study attempts to determine the importance of these neurotrophic factors in enabling DRG-derived sensory neuron axons to overcome the inhibitory guidance cues released from the glial scar.Methods:A Semaphorin 3A(SEMA3A)growth cone collapse model was used on cultured rat DRG.Neutralizing antibodies to each neurotrophic growth factor in question(NGF,BDNF,GDNF and NT-3)were applied to the EG-conditioned medium to evaluate the factor’s individual importance in preventing growth cone collapse.Results:EG-conditioned medium inhibits and reverses growth cone collapse in adult DRG neurons when added either 1 h before or concurrently with SEMA3A.When administered 40 min after the initial SEMA3A-induced collapse,EG-conditioned medium was able to reverse the growth cone collapse.Individual inhibition of all the neurotrophic factors,except for BDNF in the co-treatment setting,resulted in increased growth cone collapse.Conclusion:NGF,BDNF,GDNF,and NT-3 are all variably involved in preventing or reversing SEMA3A-induced growth cone collapse in pre-,co-,and post-treatment time settings.However,no individual neurotrophic factors appear to be essential to promoting neurite outgrowth.

Substrate topography affects PC12 cell differentiation through mechanotransduction mechanisms

Neural stem cells in vivo receive information from biochemical and biophysical cues of their microenvironment that affect their survival,proliferation and differentiation toward specific lineages.Recapitulation of these conditions in vitro is better achieved in 3D cell cultures.Especially the cells that grow in scaffold-dependent 3D cultures establish more complex cell-cell and cell-material interactions enabling the study of the various signaling pathways.The biochemical signaling from growth factors and hormones has been extensively studied over the years.More recently cumulative evidence demonstrates that cell sensing and response to mechanical stimuli is mediated through mechanotransduction pathways.Although individual signaling pathways activated by biochemical or mechanical cues in cells are well-studied,synergistic or antagonistic effects among them need further research to be fully understood.The understanding of the alteration of the cell behavior due to a microenvironmental cues would be greatly enhanced by the study of key elements that lie in the convergence of biochemical and mechanical pathways.Here we analyzed the effect of the substrate topography on the nerve growth factor(NGF)induced differentiation of PC12 cells.Our results showed that the topography interferes with NGF-induced neuronal differentiation and this is reflected in the reduced activation of the integrin-mediated mechanotransduction.

Microtubule dynamics in axon guidance

Precise modulation of the cytoskeleton is involved in a variety of cellular processes including cell division, migration, polarity, and adhesion. In developing post-mitotic neurons, extracellular guidance cues not only trigger signaling cascades that act at a distance to indirectly regulate microtubule distribution, and assembly and disassembly in the growth cone, but also directly modulate microtubule stability and dynamics through coupling of guidance receptors with microtubules to control growth-cone turning. Microtubule-associated proteins including classical microtubule-associated proteins and microtubule plus-end tracking proteins are required for modulating microtubule dynamics to influence growth-cone steering. Multiple key signaling components, such as calcium, small GTPases, glycogen synthase kinase-313, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase, link upstream signal cascades to microtubule stability and dynamics in the growth cone to control axon outgrowth and projection. Understanding the functions and regulation of microtubule dynamics in the growth cone provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of axon guidance.

Chromophore-assisted laser inactivation in neural development

Chromophore-assisted laser inactivation（CALI） is a technique that uses photochemically-generated reactive oxygen species to acutely inactivate target proteins in living cells.Neural development includes highly dynamic cellular processes such as asymmetric cell division,migration,axon and dendrite outgrowth and synaptogenesis.Although many key molecules of neural development have been identified since the past decades,their spatiotemporal contributions to these cellular events are not well understood.CALI provides an appealing tool for elucidating the precise functions of these molecules during neural development.In this review,we summarize the principles of CALI,a recent microscopic setup to perform CALI experiments,and the application of CALI to the study of growth-cone motility and neuroblast asymmetric division.