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Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Dissection and Culture of Commissural Neurons from Embryonic Spinal Cord
Published on: May 25, 2010
The WAVE regulatory complex interacts with Boc and is required for Shh-mediated axon guidance
Nursen Balekoglu1,2, Jean-Francois Michaud1, Rachelle Sauvé1,3
1Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), 110 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Quebec H2W 1R7, Canada.
None:
During development, Shh attracts axons of spinal cord commissural neurons to the floor plate. Shh-mediated attraction of commissural axons requires the receptor Boc. How Boc regulates cytoskeletal changes in growth cones in response to Shh is not fully understood. To identify effectors of Boc in Shh-mediated axon guidance, we used BioID to screen for proteins in proximity to Boc. Top hits included members of the WAVE regulatory complex (WRC), which acts downstream of Rac1 to promote actin cytoskeleton assembly. Therefore, we hypothesized that the WRC is important for Shh-mediated growth cone turning. Using biochemical and cellular assays, we found that Boc directly interacts with the WRC and that this interaction can occur in live cells. Moreover, we found that knockdown of Nckap1 and Cyfip1/2, two subunits of the WRC, in commissural neurons, impairs axon attraction toward a Shh gradient. Our results demonstrate that the WRC is required for Shh-mediated axon attraction.
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