Access

Brief Communication

Nature Neuroscience 9, 993–995 (1 August 2006) | doi:10.1038/nn1742

IGF-1 receptor is essential for the establishment of hippocampal neuronal polarity

Lucas Sosa , Sebastian Dupraz , Lisandro Laurino , Flavia Bollati , Mariano Bisbal , Alfredo C|[aacute]|ceres , Karl H Pfenninger & Santiago Quiroga

How a neuron becomes polarized remains largely unknown. Results obtained with a function-blocking antibody and an siRNA targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptor suggest that an essential step in the establishment of hippocampal neuronal polarity and the initiation of axonal outgrowth is the activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3k)-Cdc42 pathway by the IGF-1 receptor, but not by the TrkA or TrkB receptors.