Crossref journal-article
Rockefeller University Press
The Journal of Cell Biology (291)
Abstract

Axon formation is the initial step in establishing neuronal polarity. We examine here the role of microtubule dynamics in neuronal polarization using hippocampal neurons in culture. We see increased microtubule stability along the shaft in a single neurite before axon formation and in the axon of morphologically polarized cells. Loss of polarity or formation of multiple axons after manipulation of neuronal polarity regulators, synapses of amphids defective (SAD) kinases, and glycogen synthase kinase-3β correlates with characteristic changes in microtubule turnover. Consistently, changing the microtubule dynamics is sufficient to alter neuronal polarization. Application of low doses of the microtubule-destabilizing drug nocodazole selectively reduces the formation of future dendrites. Conversely, low doses of the microtubule-stabilizing drug taxol shift polymerizing microtubules from neurite shafts to process tips and lead to the formation of multiple axons. Finally, local stabilization of microtubules using a photoactivatable analogue of taxol induces axon formation from the activated area. Thus, local microtubule stabilization in one neurite is a physiological signal specifying neuronal polarization.

Bibliography

Witte, H., Neukirchen, D., & Bradke, F. (2008). Microtubule stabilization specifies initial neuronal polarization. The Journal of Cell Biology, 180(3), 619–632.

Authors 3
  1. Harald Witte (first)
  2. Dorothee Neukirchen (additional)
  3. Frank Bradke (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 17 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 11, 2008, 3:02 p.m.)
Deposited 2 years, 1 month ago (July 22, 2023, 4 p.m.)
Indexed 1 day, 20 hours ago (Aug. 29, 2025, 6:33 a.m.)
Issued 17 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 11, 2008)
Published 17 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 11, 2008)
Published Online 17 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 11, 2008)
Published Print 17 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 11, 2008)
Funders 0

None

@article{Witte_2008, title={Microtubule stabilization specifies initial neuronal polarization}, volume={180}, ISSN={0021-9525}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200707042}, DOI={10.1083/jcb.200707042}, number={3}, journal={The Journal of Cell Biology}, publisher={Rockefeller University Press}, author={Witte, Harald and Neukirchen, Dorothee and Bradke, Frank}, year={2008}, month=feb, pages={619–632} }