Piper Michael, Dwivedy Asha, Leung Louis, Bradley Roger S, Holt Christine E
Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, United Kingdom.
J Neurosci. 2008 Jan 2;28(1):100-5. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4490-07.2008.
NF-protocadherin (NFPC)-mediated cell-cell adhesion plays a critical role in vertebrate neural tube formation. NFPC is also expressed during the period of axon tract formation, but little is known about its function in axonogenesis. Here we have tested the role of NFPC and its cytosolic cofactor template-activating factor 1 (TAF1) in the emergence of the Xenopus retinotectal projection. NFPC is expressed in the developing retina and optic pathway and is abundant in growing retinal axons. Inhibition of NFPC function in developing retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) severely reduces axon initiation and elongation and suppresses dendrite genesis. Furthermore, an identical phenotype occurs when TAF1 function is blocked. These data provide evidence that NFPC regulates axon initiation and elongation and indicate a conserved role for TAF1, a transcriptional regulator, as a downstream cytosolic effector of NFPC in RGCs.
神经原钙黏蛋白（NFPC）介导的细胞间黏附在脊椎动物神经管形成过程中起着关键作用。NFPC在轴突束形成期也有表达，但对其在轴突发生中的功能了解甚少。在此，我们测试了NFPC及其胞质辅因子模板激活因子1（TAF1）在非洲爪蟾视网膜顶盖投射形成中的作用。NFPC在发育中的视网膜和视通路中表达，并且在生长中的视网膜轴突中大量存在。抑制发育中的视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）中NFPC的功能会严重减少轴突起始和伸长，并抑制树突发生。此外，当TAF1功能被阻断时会出现相同的表型。这些数据证明NFPC调节轴突起始和伸长，并表明转录调节因子TAF1作为NFPC在RGC中的下游胞质效应器具有保守作用。
