Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Axon Morphogenesis

Excerpt

Axons allow neurons to transmit electrical information to target cells with synaptic connections. Axons often have stereotypic morphologies accompanied by various branched structures that connect with multiple synaptic targets. Developing these branched morphologies is critical to building complex neural circuits. In this chapter, we discuss our general understanding of axon morphogenesis, with a focus on three steps, growth, guidance, and branching, which are often repeated to generate the diverse morphologies in the nervous system. We summarize some recent findings with the goal of providing a broad, but up-to-date, view of general molecular and cellular mechanisms of this important developmental process.