HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goodhill, G. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Goodhill, G. J.

A Theoretical Model of Axon Guidance by the Robo Code

geoff{at}georgetown.edu, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. 20007, U.S.A.

After crossing the midline, different populations of commissural axons in Drosophila target specific longitudinal pathways at different distances from the midline. It has recently been shown that this choice of lateral position is governed by the particular combination of Robo receptors expressed by these axons, presumably in response to a gradient of Slit released by the midline. Here we propose a simple theoretical model of this combinatorial coding scheme. The principal results of the model are that purely quantitative rather than qualitative differences between the different Robo receptors are sufficient to account for the effects observed following removal or ectopic expression of specific Robo receptors, and that the steepness of the Slit gradient in vivo must exceed a certain minimum for the results observed experimentally to be consistent.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M.-P. Furrer, I. Vasenkova, D. Kamiyama, Y. Rosado, and A. Chiba Slit and Robo control the development of dendrites in Drosophila CNS Development, November 1, 2007; 134(21): 3795 - 3804. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. G. Tharp, R. Yadav, D. Irimia, A. Upadhyaya, A. Samadani, O. Hurtado, S-Y. Liu, S. Munisamy, D. M. Brainard, M. J. Mahon, et al. Neutrophil chemorepulsion in defined interleukin-8 gradients in vitro and in vivo J. Leukoc. Biol., March 1, 2006; 79(3): 539 - 554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Xu, W. J. Rosoff, J. S. Urbach, and G. J. Goodhill Adaptation is not required to explain the long-term response of axons to molecular gradients Development, October 15, 2005; 132(20): 4545 - 4552. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]