Abstract
In order to navigate through the surrounding environment many mammals, including humans, primarily rely on vision. The eye, composed of the choroid, sclera, retinal pigmented epithelium, cornea, lens, iris and retina, is the structure that receives the light and converts it into electrical impulses. The retina contains six major types of neurons involving in receiving and modifying visual information and passing it onto higher visual processing centres in the brain. Visual information is relayed to the brain via the axons of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), a projection known as the optic pathway. The proper formation of this pathway during development is essential for normal vision in the adult individual. Along this pathway there are several points where visual axons face 'choices' in their direction of growth. Understanding how these choices are made has advanced significantly our knowledge of axon guidance mechanisms. Thus, the development of the visual pathway has served as an extremely useful model to reveal general principles of axon pathfinding throughout the nervous system. However, due to its particularities, some cellular and molecular mechanisms are specific for the visual circuit. Here we review both general and specific mechanisms involved in the guidance of mammalian RGC axons when they are traveling from the retina to the brain to establish precise and stereotyped connections that will sustain vision.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 48-59 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology |
Volume | 85 |
Early online date | 26 Nov 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Jan 2019 |
Bibliographical note
The laboratory of EH is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the following grants: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BFU2016-77605), Generalitat Valenciana, PROMETEO Program (2012/026), ERA-Net Program (PCIN2015-192-C02-02); Fundació La Marató de TV3 (20142130), Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno Foundation (201/C/2014) and European Research Council (no. 282329). We also acknowledge the financial support received from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the grant co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the “Severo Ochoa” Program for Centers of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2013-0317).The laboratory of LE is funded currently by the University of Aberdeen Development Trust, and an EastBio BBSRC PhD studentship.
Keywords
- Axon pathfinding
- Axon targeting
- Growth cone
- Midline
- Optic chiasm
- Visual pathway
- MONOAMINE-OXIDASE
- GANGLION-CELL AXONS
- CHONDROITIN SULFATE
- EPHA RECEPTORS
- NETRIN RECEPTOR
- DISTINCT ASPECTS
- RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASES
- MOUSE OPTIC CHIASM
- HEPARAN-SULFATE
- BINOCULAR VISION