Transcriptional regulation of guidance at the midline and in motor circuits

Axon navigation through the developing body of an embryo is a challenging and exquisitely precise process. Axonal processes within the nervous system harbor extremely complicated internal regulatory mechanisms that enable each of them to respond to environmental cues in a unique way, so that every single neuron has an exact stereotypical localization and axonal projection pattern. Receptors and adhesion molecules expressed on axonal membranes will determine their guidance properties. Axon guidance is thought to be controlled to a large extent through transcription factor codes. These codes would be responsible for the deployment of specific guidance receptors and adhesion molecules on axonal membranes to allow them to reach their targets. Although families of transcriptional regulators as well as families of guidance molecules have been conserved across evolution, their relationships seem to have developed independently. This review focuses on the midline and the neuromuscular system in both vertebrates and Drosophila in which such relationships have been particularly well studied.