Linked Life Data

10393108

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/10393108

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
15
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-9-21
pubmed:abstractText
Although glial cells have been implicated widely in the formation of axon tracts in both insects and vertebrates, their specific function appears to be context-dependent, ranging from providing essential guidance cues to playing a merely facilitory role. Here we examine the role of the retinal basal glia (RBG) in photoreceptor axon guidance in Drosophila. The RBG originate in the optic stalk and have been thought to migrate into the eye disc along photoreceptor axons, thus precluding any role in axon guidance. Here we show the following. (1) The RBG can, in fact, migrate into the eye disc even in the absence of photoreceptor axons in the optic stalk; they also migrate to ectopic patches of differentiating photoreceptors without axons providing a continuous physical substratum. This suggests that glial cells are attracted into the eye disc not through haptotaxis along established axons, but through another mechanism, possibly chemotaxis. (2) If no glial cells are present in the eye disc, photoreceptor axons are able to grow and direct their growth posteriorly as in wild type, but are unable to enter the optic stalk. This indicates that the RBG have a crucial role in axon guidance, but not in axonal outgrowth per se. (3) A few glia close to the entry of the optic stalk suffice to guide the axons into the stalk, suggesting that glia instruct axons by local interaction.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0950-1991
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
126
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
3285-92
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1999
pubmed:articleTitle
Migration and function of glia in the developing Drosophila eye.
pubmed:affiliation
Laboratory of Developmental Neurogenetics, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't