MIG-10/Lamellipodin and the lipid modulator AGE-1/PI3K promote axon guidance and outgrowth in response to Slit and netrin.

Chieh Chang, Carolyn E. Adler, Matthias Krause, Scott G Clark, Frank B. Gertler, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Cornelia I. Bargmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

111 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The cytoplasmic C. elegans protein MIG-10 affects cell migrations and is related to mammalian proteins that bind phospholipids and Ena/VASP actin regulators. In cultured cells, mammalian MIG-10 promotes lamellipodial growth and Ena/VASP proteins induce filopodia. RESULTS: We show here that during neuronal development, mig-10 and the C. elegans Ena/VASP homolog unc-34 cooperate to guide axons toward UNC-6 (netrin) and away from SLT-1 (Slit). The single mutants have relatively mild phenotypes, but mig-10; unc-34 double mutants arrest early in development with severe axon guidance defects. In axons that are guided toward ventral netrin, unc-34 is required for the formation of filopodia and mig-10 increases the number of filopodia. In unc-34 mutants, developing axons that lack filopodia are still guided to netrin through lamellipodial growth. In addition to its role in axon guidance, mig-10 stimulates netrin-dependent axon outgrowth in a process that requires the age-1 phosphoinositide-3 lipid kinase but not unc-34. CONCLUSIONS: mig-10 and unc-34 organize intracellular responses to both attractive and repulsive axon guidance cues. mig-10 and age-1 lipid signaling promote axon outgrowth; unc-34 and to a lesser extent mig-10 promote filopodia formation. Surprisingly, filopodia are largely dispensable for accurate axon guidance.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)854 - 862
Number of pages9
JournalCurrent Biology
Volume16
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 May 2006

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