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Updated: Jan 31, 2026
08:37
Whole-mount Imaging of Mouse Embryo Sensory Axon Projections
Published on: December 9, 2014
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Subcellular transcriptomes and proteomes of developing axon projections in the cerebral cortex.
Alexandros Poulopoulos1,2, Alexander J Murphy3, Abdulkadir Ozkan3
1Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Center for Brain Science, and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. apoulopoulos@som.umaryland.edu.
Nature
|January 11, 2019
Summary
Researchers developed a new method to map molecules in neuronal growth cones, revealing key proteins like mTOR that guide brain wiring. This advance aids understanding of neural circuit development and potential regeneration.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Neural circuit development requires precise axon connections guided by growth cones.
- Growth cones contain molecular machinery essential for projection-specific growth and guidance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and apply a novel method for analyzing the molecular composition of native growth cones in vivo.
- To identify molecular specializations within growth cones that contribute to specific neural circuit formation.
Main Methods:
- Developed growth cone sorting and subcellular RNA-proteome mapping.
- Applied the technique to developing callosal projections in the mouse cerebral cortex.
- Generated paired subcellular transcriptomes and proteomes from single neuron subtypes.
Main Results:
- Identified molecular enrichments within trans-hemispheric growth cones compared to parent cell bodies.
- Revealed accumulations of the growth-regulating kinase mTOR and associated mRNAs in growth cones.
- Demonstrated the feasibility of paired RNA and protein analysis from single, in vivo-isolated growth cones.
Conclusions:
- The developed approach provides a systems-level view of molecular substrates in neural wiring.
- Findings illuminate the relationship between subcellular RNA and protein distribution in developing neurons.
- This method can advance the study of circuit formation, miswiring, and neural regeneration.
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