Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Visualizing Axonal Growth Cone Collapse and Early Amyloid β Effects in Cultured Mouse Neurons
Published on: October 30, 2018
Non-proliferative effects of lysophosphatidic acid enhance cortical growth and folding
Marcy A Kingsbury1, Stevens K Rehen, James J A Contos
1Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, ICND 118, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Abstract:
Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a phospholipid that has extracellular signaling properties mediated by G protein-coupled receptors. Two LPA receptors, LPA(1) and LPA(2), are expressed in the embryonic cerebral cortex, suggesting roles for LPA signaling in cortical formation. Here we report that intact cerebral cortices exposed to extracellular LPA ex vivo rapidly increased in width and produced folds resembling gyri, which are not normally present in mouse brains and are absent in LPA(1) LPA(2) double-null mice. Mechanistically, growth was not due to increased proliferation but rather to receptor-dependent reduced cell death and increased terminal mitosis of neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Our results implicate extracellular lipid signals as new influences on brain formation during embryonic development.
Related Concept Videos
Long-term Potentiation
Long-term Potentiation
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...
Lysosomal Hydrolases
Long-term Depression
Long-term Depression
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over time, all...
Phosphoinositides and PIPs
Different phosphoinositides are synthesized and recruited on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. The localization of specific phosphoinositides concentrated in separate membrane...
