By The Broad Stem Cell Research Center – Technology Networks –
Researchers have uncovered an unexpected role for the molecule netrin1 in organizing the developing spinal cord.
Scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have uncovered an unexpected role for the molecule netrin1 in organizing the developing spinal cord.
The researchers discovered that netrin1, which is known primarily as a guidance cue that directs growing nerve fibers, also limits bone morphogenetic protein, or BMP, signaling to specific regions of the spinal cord. This boundary-setting function is critical because this signaling activity must be precisely confined to the dorsal region for sensory neurons to develop properly.
