Research seminars Symmetry breaking in axon guidance and synapse formation

Abstract

The proper wiring of axons and formation of synaptic connections are essential for the development and function of the nervous system. Although many axon guidance molecules and synaptic recognition molecules have been identified, how they control the directed growth of axons and assemble the asymmetrical presynaptic and postsynaptic structures are not fully understood. We found that the conserved signaling pathway that polarizes cells along the tissue plane, the planar cell polarity pathway, is essential for growth cone turning and glutamatergic synapse formation. In this presentation, I will discuss the progress in understanding the role and the mechanism of planar cell polarity proteins in axon guidance/regeneration, and the formation, plasticity, and degeneration of glutamatergic synapses.

Biosketch

Professor Zou graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai and received his Ph.D. from the University of California. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research in Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s laboratory at UCSF.

References

• Liu, Y., Shi, Y., Zou, Y. (2023)
  Wnt signaling in axon guidance. Trends in Neurosciences (Review)
• Onishi, K., Hollis, E., Zou, Y. (2018)
  Axon guidance and injury-lessons from Wnts and Wnt signaling. Current Opinion in Neurobiology (Review)
• Lyuksyutova, A. I., Lu, C.-C., Milanesio, N., King, L.A., Guo, N., Wang, Y., Nathans, J., Tessier-Lavigne, M., Zou, Y. (2003)
  Anterior-posterior guidance of commissural axons by Wnt-Frizzled signaling. Science
• Zou, Y., Stoeckli, E., Chen, H., Tessier-Lavigne, M. (2000)
  Squeezing axons out of the gray matter: a role for slit and semaphorin proteins from midline and ventral spinal cord. Cell

After his talk, he will be happy to take questions from students.