[The molecular mechanism of neuronal migration]

A large amount of work since the late 1800 have shown that, during embryonic and postnatal development, the majority, if not all, neurons in mammalian nervous system have to migrate a certain distance to reach their final destination. An interesting question is how neurons are guided for their migration. We are interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal migration and our work published in 1999 indicates that there are diffusible molecules in the brain which can guide the direction of migrating neurons; specifically, a secreted protein called Slit is repulsive to neurons and its concentration gradient guides neuronal migration.