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A new chemotaxis assay shows the extreme sensitivity of axons to molecular gradients

Nature Neuroscience volume 7, pages 678–682 (2004)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 July 2004

Abstract

Axonal chemotaxis is believed to be important in wiring up the developing and regenerating nervous system, but little is known about how axons actually respond to molecular gradients. We report a new quantitative assay that allows the long-term response of axons to gradients of known and controllable shape to be examined in a three-dimensional gel. Using this assay, we show that axons may be nature's most-sensitive gradient detectors, but this sensitivity exists only within a narrow range of ligand concentrations. This assay should also be applicable to other biological processes that are controlled by molecular gradients, such as cell migration and morphogenesis.

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Figure 1: Gradient generation technique.
Figure 2: Fluorescence imaging of casein concentration gradients.
Figure 3: Guidance of DRG axons by NGF gradients.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Savich, R. Arevalo, S. Mittar, C. Fleury and J. Torri for their assistance with technology development. Supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the Whitaker Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. William J Rosoff and Jeffrey S Urbach: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, 20007, DC, USA

    William J Rosoff & Geoffrey J Goodhill

  2. Department of Physics, Georgetown University, Washington, 20057, DC, USA

    Jeffrey S Urbach, Mark A Esrick & Ryan G McAllister

  3. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and The Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, 21201, Maryland, USA

    Linda J Richards

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  1. William J Rosoff
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Correspondence to Geoffrey J Goodhill.

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Rosoff, W., Urbach, J., Esrick, M. et al. A new chemotaxis assay shows the extreme sensitivity of axons to molecular gradients. Nat Neurosci 7, 678–682 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1259

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