Antibodies to integrins inhibit dendritic growth in rat sympathetic neurons.

We have examined the role of integrins in the development of dendrites in embryonic rat sympathetic neurons . Previous studies have established that exposure to a basement membrane extract (BME) causes these neurons to form dendrites (Lein and Higgins, 1989). The current experiments demonstrate that the dendrite-promoting activity of BME can be markedly inhibited by antibodies directed against the integrin subunit. Although the specific ∝ integrin sub-unit(s) that mediate the effect of BME on dendritic growth were not identified, it was found that neither the ∝, or ∝ sub-units, nor RGD-binding integrins were involved to any significant extent. These data suggest that, in addition to their well established role in regulating axonal growth, integrins also participate in dendritic growth.