Draxin, an axon guidance protein, affects chick trunk neural crest migration

• Published in: Development, growth & differentiation Vol. 51; no. 9; pp. 787 - 796
• Main Authors: Su, Yuhong, Naser, Iftekhar B, Islam, Shahidul M, Zhang, Sanbing, Ahmed, Giasuddin, Chen, Sandy, Shinmyo, Yohei, Kawakami, Minoru, Yamamura, Ken-ichi, Tanaka, Hideaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-12-2009; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Axons - metabolism; Axons - physiology; Cell Movement - drug effects; Cell Movement - genetics; Cell Polarity - drug effects; Cell Polarity - genetics; Cells, Cultured; Chick Embryo; cytoskeleton; draxin; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - physiology; guidance cue; inhibition; Nerve Tissue Proteins - genetics; Nerve Tissue Proteins - metabolism; Nerve Tissue Proteins - pharmacology; Nerve Tissue Proteins - physiology; Neural Crest - drug effects; Neural Crest - embryology; Neural Crest - metabolism; Neural Crest - physiology; neural crest migration; Neurogenesis - genetics; Protein Binding; Signal Transduction - genetics; Thorax - embryology; Thorax - metabolism; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0012-1592; 1440-169X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-169x.2009.01137.x

The neural crest is a multipotent population of migratory cells that arises in the central nervous system and subsequently migrates along defined stereotypic pathways. In the present work, we analyzed the role of a repulsive axon guidance protein, draxin, in the migration of neural crest cells. Draxin is expressed in the roof plate of the chick trunk spinal cord and around the early migration pathway of neural crest cells. Draxin modulates chick neural crest cell migration in vitro by reducing the polarization of these cells. When exposed to draxin, the velocity of migrating neural crest cells was reduced, and the cells changed direction so frequently that the net migration distance was also reduced. Overexpression of draxin also caused some early migrating neural crest cells to change direction to the dorsolateral pathway in the chick trunk region, presumably due to draxin's inhibitory activity. These results demonstrate that draxin, an axon guidance protein, can also affect trunk neural crest migration in the chick embryo.