Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

Cell-tracking pipeline reveals how motor circuits are built

A sophisticated imaging pipeline has been developed to track neurons in early-stage zebrafish embryos over time and space. It reveals how newborn neurons come together to build a spinal cord capable of locomotion.
  1. Kristen P. D’Elia

    1. Kristen P. D’Elia is in the Departments of Otolaryngology and of Neuroscience and Physiology, Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. David Schoppik

    1. David Schoppik is in the Departments of Otolaryngology and of Neuroscience and Physiology, Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Where a person comes from and what they do are often considered key parts of their identity. Similarly, neurons can be categorized by both their developmental history and their role in the nervous system. But, just as knowing someone’s job title does not necessarily tell you what part they play in a team at work, knowing what role a neuron has does not mean that we understand how it comes together with other diverse neuron types to form circuits — for instance, to permit movement. Writing in Cell, Wan et al.1 describe an imaging protocol that will help researchers determine how neural circuits form. They use their method to comprehensively chart motor-circuit assembly and emerging function in the spinal cord of zebrafish.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 576, 46-47 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03492-6

References

  1. Wan, Y. et al. Cell 179, 355–372 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Hanson, M. G. & Landmesser, L. T. J. Neurosci. 23, 587–600 (2003).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Gosgnach, S. et al. J. Neurosci. 37, 10835–10841 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. D’Elia, K. P. & Dasen, J. S. Neural Dev. 13, 10 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Baek, M., Pivetta, C., Liu, J.-P., Arber, S. & Dasen, J. S. Cell Rep. 21, 867–877 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Song, J., Ampatzis, K., Björnfors, E. R. & El Manira, A. Nature 529, 399–402 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Warp, E. et al. Curr. Biol. 22, 93–102 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Gao, P., Sultan, K. T., Zhang, X.-J. & Shi, S. H. Development 140, 2645–2655 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Mayer, C. et al. Neuron 87, 989–998 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Holguera, I. & Desplan, C. Science 362, 176–180 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links