Growing axons form their correct connections in the developing nervous system by responding to specific guidance molecules. But how are these molecules and their receptors regulated? On p. 3441, Ogura and Goshima report that, in C. elegans, the subcellular localisation of UNC-5, the receptor for the axon guidance molecule Netrin (UNC-6), is regulated by the autophagy-related kinase UNC-51 and its binding partner UNC-14 (which may also be involved in vesicle trafficking). UNC-5 normally localizes to small vesicles in the axons and cell bodies of the dorsally extending DD/VD motoneurons. In unc-51 and unc-14 mutants,which contain many neurons with guidance defects, UNC-5 (but not other molecules needed for axon guidance) is abnormally localised in the cell bodies of these motoneurons. Furthermore, unc-5 and unc-6 interact genetically with unc-51 and unc-14 to affect DD/VD axon guidance, and UNC-5, UNC-51 and UNC-14 colocalise in neurons. Ogura and Goshima conclude that UNC-5 uses a unique unknown mechanism for its localisation, which, in turn, probably regulates its activity.
Guiding axon guidance receptors
Guiding axon guidance receptors. Development 1 September 2006; 133 (17): e1703. doi:
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