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Stoeckli

Fakultäten » Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät » Molekulare Biologie, Institut für » Neurobiology » Prof. Dr. Esther Stoeckli » Stoeckli

Completed research project

Title / Titel

Molecular mechanisms of neural circuit formation

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Abstract (PDF, 14 KB)

Summary / Zusammenfassung

The formation of neural circuits is a prerequisite for the function of the nervous system. During development, axons navigate through the preexisting tissue to establish connections with the appropriate target cells. In vivo and in vitro studies have contributed to our current view of axon guidance as a multi-step process during which growth cones, the tips of the growing axons, respond to guidance information presented by their environment. The information is found in form of attractive or repulsive guidance cues, molecules that act either over some distance, in case of long-range guidance cues, to attract or repel growth cones, or more locally, in case of short-range guidance cues, to specify the actual pathway taken by the growing axons to reach the outlined target. Along their way to the final target, growth cones integrate a variety of guidance signals that determine the axonal trajectory. Most importantly, axons contact one or several intermediate targets along their trajectory. These intermediate targets represent choice points, where axons respond to the presence of guidance molecules by selecting one of several possible pathways. Based on the specific receptors that are expressed by any given subpopulation of axons contacting an intermediate target, the response can differ. Our research focuses on the molecular interactions that determine the pathway choices of growing axons along their trajectory and at choice points.

Publications / Publikationen

Bacon, C; Endris, V; Andermatt, I; Niederkofler, V; Waltereit, R; Bartsch, D; Stoeckli, E T; Rappold, G (2011). Evidence for a role of srGAP3 in the positioning of commissural axons within the ventrolateral funiculus of the mouse spinal cord. PLoS ONE, 6(5):e19887.

Cotrufo, T; Pérez-Brangulí, F; Muhaisen, A; Ros, O; Andrés, R; Baeriswyl, T; Fuschini, G; Tarrago, T; Pascual, M; Ureña, J; Blasi, J; Giralt, E; Stoeckli, E T; Soriano, E (2011). A signaling mechanism coupling netrin-1/deleted in colorectal cancer chemoattraction to SNARE-mediated exocytosis in axonal growth cones. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(41):14463-14480.

Dutt, S; Cassoly, E; Dours-Zimmermann, M T; Matasci, M; Stoeckli, E T; Zimmermann, D R (2011). Versican v0 and v1 direct the growth of peripheral axons in the developing chick hindlimb. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(14):5262-5270.

Bourikas, Dimitris; Pekarik, Vladimir; Baeriswyl, T; Grunditz, A; Sadhu, R; Nardó, M; Stoeckli, E T (2005). Sonic hedgehog guides commissural axons along the longitudinal axis of the spinal cord. Nature Neuroscience, 8(3):297-304.

Holz, A; Kollmus, H; Ryge, J; Niederkofler, V; Dias, J; Ericson, J; Stoeckli, E T; Kiehn, O; Arnold, H H (2010). The transcription factors Nkx2.2 and Nkx2.9 play a novel role in floor plate development and commissural axon guidance. Development (Cambridge), 137(24):4249-4260.

Stoeckli, E T (2010). Neural circuit formation in the cerebellum is controlled by cell adhesion molecules of the contactin family. Cell Adhesion and Migration, 4(4):523-526.

Petrinovic, M M; Duncan, C S; Bourikas, D; Weinman, O; Montani, L; Schroeter, A; Maerki, D; Sommer, L; Stoeckli, E T; Schwab, M E (2010). Neuronal Nogo-A regulates neurite fasciculation, branching and extension in the developing nervous system. Development, 137(15):2539-2550.

Penno, A; Reilly, M M; Houlden, H; Laurá, M; Rentsch, K; Niederkofler, V; Stoeckli, E T; Nicholson, G; Eichler, F; Brown, R H; von Eckardstein, A; Hornemann, T (2010). Hereditary sensory neuropathy type 1 is caused by the accumulation of two neurotoxic sphingolipids. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285(15):11178-11187.

Niederkofler, V; Baeriswyl, T; Ott, R; Stoeckli, E T (2010). Nectin-like molecules/SynCAMs are required for post-crossing commissural axon guidance. Development, 137(3):427-435.

Domanitskaya, E; Wacker, Z; Mauti, O; Baeriswyl, T; Esteve, P; Bovolenta, Z; Stoeckli, E T (2010). Sonic hedgehog guides post-crossing commissural axons both directly and indirectly by regulating Wnt activity. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(33):11167-11176.

Mauti, O; Domanitskaya, E; Andermatt, I; Sadhu, R; Stoeckli, E T (2007). Semaphorin6A acts as a gate keeper between the central and the peripheral nervous system. Neural Development, 2:28.