Neural Wiring: Axon Guidance

This set of flashcards encapsulates the key terms and concepts related to axon guidance, their definitions, and how they interact during neural development.

Axon Guidance

The process by which a growing axon navigates its way through a complex environment.

Growth Cone

A dynamic structure at the tip of a growing axon that explores the environment and responds to guidance cues.

Filopodia

Slender projections from the growth cone that sense the surrounding environment for chemical markers and cues.

Chemoattractants

Diffusible molecules that attract axons toward their target.

Chemorepellents

Molecules that repel axons away from certain areas.

Fasciculation

The tendency of developing axons to grow along the paths established by preceding axons.

Netrin

A family of highly conserved guidance molecules that attract axons toward their midline targets.

Slit

A chemorepellent cue that prevents axons from crossing the midline of the nervous system.

Robo (Roundabout)

A receptor on axons that recognizes Slit and prevents them from crossing the midline.

Guide Cells

Cells that secrete chemical markers to assist axons in finding their targets.

Axon Pathfinding Signals

Combinatorial actions and inherent redundancy of signals that guide axons to their destinations.

Short-range Cues

Guidance signals acting over small distances, primarily contact adhesion or repulsion.

Long-range Cues

Guidance signals that act over larger distances, influencing axon trajectory.

Commissural Axons

Axons that cross the midline to connect the left and right sides of the nervous system.

Developmental Axon Guidance

The mechanisms by which axons navigate through the embryonic nervous system.

Conserved Mechanisms

Evolutionarily ancient processes that are retained across different species.