Axon guidance mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genetic studies have identified an extracellular path cue molecule, UNC-6, and a neuronal receptor, UNC-5, that act to guide migrating pioneer growth cones along the dorsoventral coordinate of the Caenorhabditis elegans body wall. Ectopic expression studies and characterization of mutants have demonstrated directly the instructive action of these molecules, suggesting a molecular model for how they perform their guidance functions. Recent evidence suggests that these and other genetically identified axon guidance molecules are likely to have vertebrate counterparts.