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Daam1a mediates asymmetric habenular morphogenesis by regulating dendritic and axonal outgrowth

Colombo, A; Palma, K; Armijo, L; Mione, M; Signore, IA; Morales, C; Guerrero, N; ... Concha, ML; + view all (2013) Daam1a mediates asymmetric habenular morphogenesis by regulating dendritic and axonal outgrowth. DEVELOPMENT , 140 (19) 3997 - 4007. 10.1242/dev.091934. Green open access

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Abstract

Although progress has been made in resolving the genetic pathways that specify neuronal asymmetries in the brain, little is known about genes that mediate the development of structural asymmetries between neurons on left and right. In this study, we identify daam1a as an asymmetric component of the signalling pathways leading to asymmetric morphogenesis of the habenulae in zebrafish. Daam1a is a member of the Formin family of actin-binding proteins and the extent of Daam1a expression in habenular neuron dendrites mirrors the asymmetric growth of habenular neuropil between left and right. Local loss and gain of Daam1a function affects neither cell number nor subtype organisation but leads to a decrease or increase of neuropil, respectively. Daam1a therefore plays a key role in the asymmetric growth of habenular neuropil downstream of the pathways that specify asymmetric cellular domains in the habenulae. In addition, Daam1a mediates the development of habenular efferent connectivity as local loss and gain of Daam1a function impairs or enhances, respectively, the growth of habenular neuron terminals in the interpeduncular nucleus. Abrogation of Daam1a disrupts the growth of both dendritic and axonal processes and results in disorganised filamentous actin and α-tubulin. Our results indicate that Daam1a plays a key role in asymmetric habenular morphogenesis mediating the growth of dendritic and axonal processes in dorsal habenular neurons.

Type: Article
Title: Daam1a mediates asymmetric habenular morphogenesis by regulating dendritic and axonal outgrowth
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1242/dev.091934
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.091934
Additional information: © 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed. PMC ID: PMC3775416 PubMed ID: 24046318
Keywords: Asymmetry, Nervous system, Morphogenesis, Daam1, Habenula, Zebrafish
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1423574
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