Development of the nervous system articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article |

    Hox genes have been implicated in the development and functioning of neural circuits in vertebrates. Here, the authors show that although hox3genes are not required for overall neural circuit development, they do appear to be necessary to prevent the formation of specific aberrant neuronal connections.

    • Leung-Hang Ma
    • , Charlotte L. Grove
    •  & Robert Baker

  • Article |

    The basic axonal wiring of the vertebrate nervous system is set up during embryonic development, and during this process axons gain or lose sensitivity to guidance cues. Here the authors show that in proprioceptive axons, two members of the ADAM metalloproteinase family promote loss of responsiveness to Sema3A, via cleavage of its receptor Neuropilin-1.

    • Erez Romi
    • , Irena Gokhman
    •  & Avraham Yaron

  • Article |

    The innervation of the mouse heart by synaptic nerve terminals during development is critical for proper heart function. Here, Manousiouthakis et al.show that sympathetic axons follow veins to reach and innervate specific areas of the ventricular myocardium and that vascular-derived endothelins have a role as axon guidance cues in this process.

    • Eleana Manousiouthakis
    • , Monica Mendez
    •  & Takako Makita

  • Article |

    The auditory systems of animals that perceive sounds in air are organized so that mechanosensory hair cells located at different positions respond to specific frequencies. Here, Mann et al. find that a gradient of Bmp7 controls the determination of frequency-specific hair cell characteristics in the chick auditory system.

    • Zoë F. Mann
    • , Benjamin R. Thiede
    •  & Matthew W. Kelley

  • Article |

    Presynaptic activity in photoreceptor cones regulates connectivity of retinal neurons. Yoshimatsu et al.investigate the development of ultraviolet (UV) and blue cone inputs onto horizontal cells, and demonstrate that UV inputs regulate synaptogenesis with blue cones via an activity-dependent sensory drive.

    • Takeshi Yoshimatsu
    • , Philip R. Williams
    •  & Rachel O. Wong

  • Article |

    Axon growth requires exocyst-dependent membrane expansion, however it is unclear how this process is spatially regulated. Gracias et al.show that axonal translation of the exocyst regulator TC10 is necessary for stimulated membrane growth, and propose that local translation coordinates membrane and cytoskeletal enlargement.

    • Neilia G. Gracias
    • , Nicole J. Shirkey-Son
    •  & Ulrich Hengst

  • Article |

    Bicaudal-D is an evolutionary conserved dynein adaptor protein, and missense mutations in this protein are associated with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Here, Jaarsma et al.show that Bicaudal-D also plays an essential role in controlling neuronal migration and lamination in the developing mouse cerebellum.

    • Dick Jaarsma
    • , Robert van den Berg
    •  & Casper C. Hoogenraad

  • Article |

    Semaphorin 3A is a guidance factor that is implicated in axonal and dendritic development. Here, Yamashita et al. show that semaphorin 3A retrograde signalling via plexin A and dynein drives the localization of AMPA receptors to the dendrites where they are crucial for proper dendritic development.

    • Naoya Yamashita
    • , Hiroshi Usui
    •  & Yoshio Goshima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The small GTPases Rnd2 and Rnd3 act downstream of proneural factors to control the migrating behaviour of neurons in the mouse embryonic cerebral cortex. Here, Azzarelli et al. show that Rnd3 binding to the semaphorin receptor PlexinB2 fine-tunes the levels of active RhoA required for cortical neuron migration.

    • Roberta Azzarelli
    • , Emilie Pacary
    •  & François Guillemot

  • Article |

    Expression of the transcription factor SOX2 reprogrammes astrocytes into neuroblasts in the adult mouse striatum. Here, the authors use the same approach in the injured adult mouse spinal cord to convert resident astrocytes into neuroblasts that can mature into synapse-forming neurons.

    • Zhida Su
    • , Wenze Niu
    •  & Chun-Li Zhang

  • Article |

    The E3 ubiquitin ligase APC/C plays a critical role in cell cycle progression. In this study, Delgado-Esteban et al. show that APC/C bound to the co-factor Cdh1 is necessary for neural progenitor cell maintenance and neuronal differentiation.

    • Maria Delgado-Esteban
    • , Irene García-Higuera
    •  & Angeles Almeida

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cerebellar development involves activity-dependent strengthening of synaptic contacts between climbing fibres and Purkinje cells. Kawamura et al.show that temporally clustered multiple climbing fibre inputs contribute to characteristic burst spiking in immature Purkinje cells before specific contacts are strengthened.

    • Yoshinobu Kawamura
    • , Hisako Nakayama
    •  & Masanobu Kano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Septins are a family of heteropolymerizing GTP/GDP-binding proteins and are implicated in neuritogenesis in nematodes. Ageta-Ishihara et al.show that septins also facilitate this process in the developing mouse brain as scaffolds that coordinate HDAC6-mediated deacetylation of microtubules.

    • Natsumi Ageta-Ishihara
    • , Takaki Miyata
    •  & Makoto Kinoshita

  • Article |

    A combination of growth factors and the transcription factor Neurogenin2 has been shown to enhance the production of new neurons from endogenous cells. Here Grandeet al.demonstrate in a rat brain injury model that these factors reprogramme non-neuronal cells into different neuronal phenotypes at distinct efficiencies depending on the environment the cells reside in.

    • Andrew Grande
    • , Kyoko Sumiyoshi
    •  & Masato Nakafuku

  • Article |

    Dipeptidyl-peptidase 6 is implicated in different neuropsychiatric pathologies. Lin and colleagues genetically delete dipeptidyl-peptidase 6 in mice and find that this results in impaired development of dendritic filopodia, as well as a reduction in the dendritic tree size, spine density and functional synapses.

    • Lin Lin
    • , Wei Sun
    •  & Dax A. Hoffman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Astroglia are heterogeneous in phenotype and not all astrocytes are equivalent in their ability to repair injured brain. Here, the authors show that two defined subtypes of astroglia generated from hESC-derived Olig2-positive versus Olig2-negative neural progenitors, exhibit distinct properties and neuroprotective effects.

    • Peng Jiang
    • , Chen Chen
    •  & Wenbin Deng

  • Article |

    The simultaneous activity of chemorepulsive and chemoattractive gradients is implicated in gamma-aminobutyric acid neuron migration during embryonic development. Won et al.show that preformed vascular networks provide these repulsive and attractive gradients to GABAergic neurons as they migrate through the telencephalon.

    • Chungkil Won
    • , Zhicheng Lin
    •  & Anju Vasudevan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Amplification of neural progenitor cells mediates expansion of brain regions. Using imaging of progenitor cell amplification in the mouse ventral forebrain, the authors identify a new progenitor type with high frequency, which they also show to be present in expanded brain regions of other species.

    • Gregor-Alexander Pilz
    • , Atsunori Shitamukai
    •  & Magdalena Götz

  • Article |

    Polarized membrane addition during axon development requires post-Golgi Rab10 carriers, whose biogenesis mechanisms remain unknown. This work shows that specific interaction between Rab10 and MYO5B controls formation of the Rab10 carriers, and this process is essential for neuronal polarization.

    • Yang Liu
    • , Xiao-Hui Xu
    •  & Zhen-Ge Luo

  • Article |

    Early neural development is regulated by the neurotransmitter GABA acting through ionotropic GABAA receptors; however, the function of metabotropic GABAB receptors in this context is less clear. Here the authors show that GABABreceptors promote neuronal migration and maturation by activating cAMP signalling.

    • Guillaume Bony
    • , Joanna Szczurkowska
    •  & Laura Cancedda

  • Article |

    The brains of rock- and sand-dwelling Lake Malawi cichlid fishes differ in telencephalon partitioning. Sylvester et al. show that these differences can be attributed to divergence in Hedgehog and Wingless signalling during development.

    • J B. Sylvester
    • , C A. Rich
    •  & J T. Streelman

  • Article |

    Human neocortex expansion is partly due to neuronal production by outer radial glial cells. In the developing human cortex, LaMonica et al. find that horizontal divisions of ventricular radial glial cells produce outer radial glial cells displaying cell-intrinsic regulation of mitosis and spindle orientation.

    • Bridget E. LaMonica
    • , Jan H. Lui
    •  & Arnold R. Kriegstein

  • Article |

    Cochlear inner and outer hair cells receive afferent innervation from type I and type II spiral ganglion neurons, respectively. Defourny et al. find that, in the absence of ephrin-A5 and its receptor EphA4, a subset of type I spiral ganglion neuron projections invade the outer hair cell area.

    • Jean Defourny
    • , Anne-Lise Poirrier
    •  & Brigitte Malgrange

  • Article |

    PGC-1α regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and adaptive thermogenesis. Cheng and colleagues alter the expression of PGC-1α in primary neuronal cultures and in the adult mouse brain, and find that it regulates dendritic spine formation and maintenance by mediating the synaptogenic actions of BDNF and CREB.

    • Aiwu Cheng
    • , Ruiqian Wan
    •  & Mark P. Mattson

  • Article |

    Bats use a process known as echolocation to measure the distance of an object by echo delay. Here, studies in newborn bats reveal that echo delay tuning of neurons in the auditory cortex is present at birth rather than acquired as a result of echolocation experience.

    • Manfred Kössl
    • , Cornelia Voss
    •  & Marianne Vater

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most excitatory synapses in the brain are found on dendritic spines, but the mechanisms underlying synapse formation are poorly understood. Niesmannet al. investigate the role of neurobeachin in synaptogenesis, and find that its deletion leads to fewer spinous synapses and altered postsynaptic currents.

    • Katharina Niesmann
    • , Dorothee Breuer
    •  & Markus Missler

  • Article |

    Large scale synapse assays can facilitate identification of drug leads. Shiet al. develop a 'synapse microarray' technology that enables sensitive, high-throughput, quantitative screening of synaptogenic events, and use it to identify novel histone deacetylase inhibitors that enhance synaptogenesis.

    • Peng Shi
    • , Mark A. Scott
    •  & Mehmet Fatih Yanik

  • Article |

    The development of radial progenitor cells and astroglia in the cerebral cortex depends on the microtubule cytoskeleton. Eomet al. have developed a new mouse model where the microtubules of astrocytes and radial glia cells are fluorescently tagged, facilitating the detailed study of microtubule dynamics and development in these cells.

    • Tae-Yeon Eom
    • , Amelia Stanco
    •  & E.S. Anton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the developing eye, the lens and retina are derived from different embryonic tissues, and how these two structures develop next to each other is of interest. In this study, the authors show that transforming growth factor-β secreted by neural crest cells is critical for the positioning of the lens next to the retina.

    • Timothy Grocott
    • , Samuel Johnson
    •  & Andrea Streit

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Development of the nervous system across other nature.com journals