Abstract
Microtubules (MTs) are essential for neuronal morphogenesis in the developing brain. The MT cytoskeleton provides physical support to shape the fine structure of neuronal processes. MT-based motors play important roles in nucleokinesis, process formation and retraction. Regulation of MT stability downstream of extracellular cues is proposed to be critical for axonogenesis. Axons and dendrites exhibit different patterns of MT organization, underlying the divergent functions of these processes. Centrosomal positioning has drawn the attention of researchers because it is a major clue to understanding neuronal MT organization. In this review, we focus on how recent advances in live imaging have revealed the dynamics of MT organization and centrosome positioning during neural development.
Highlights
Neuronal migration and polarization are key activities in brain morphogenesis, and both rely on microtubule (MT) function [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The centrosome of migrating neurons is located in front of the nucleus. This configuration is considered crucial for nucleokinesis, as an N–C coupling is perturbed in migration-defective neurons [58,59,60,61,62,63]
Because we found that the centrosome in migrating neurons tends to move towards the most actively extending process, we concluded that centrosome positioning reflects relative protrusive activities of processes and that, in these cases, centrosome translocation during axonogenesis is likely to be a passive rather than an instructive event in orienting the axon
Summary
Microtubules (MTs) are essential for neuronal morphogenesis in the developing brain. The MT cytoskeleton provides physical support to shape the fine structure of neuronal processes. MT-based motors play important roles in nucleokinesis, process formation and retraction. Regulation of MT stability downstream of extracellular cues is proposed to be critical for axonogenesis. Axons and dendrites exhibit different patterns of MT organization, underlying the divergent functions of these processes. Centrosomal positioning has drawn the attention of researchers because it is a major clue to understanding neuronal MT organization. We focus on how recent advances in live imaging have revealed the dynamics of MT organization and centrosome positioning during neural development
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