Islet Coordinately Regulates Motor Axon Guidance and Dendrite Targeting through the Frazzled/DCC Receptor
Motor neuron axon targeting in the periphery is correlated with the positions of motor neuron inputs in the CNS, but how these processes are coordinated to form a myotopic map remains poorly understood.
Fra acts downstream of Isl in both the periphery and the CNS, demonstrating how a single regulatory relationship is used in multiple cellular compartments to coordinate neural circuit wiring.
The diversity of cell types is one of the nervous system’s most remarkable features, and understanding how this diversity is achieved remains a major challenge.
It is well established that transcription factors play subset-specific roles in regulating neural morphogenesis, but identifying the cellular effectors that act downstream of these factors remains a major challenge, as does understanding how individual transcription factors coordinately establish multiple aspects of cell fate.
Future work will be necessary to determine whether Isl is required throughout larval life for the maintenance of RP3’s physiological and morphological features and to what extent Isl coordinately establishes multiple features of RP neuron identity.
Future research will be necessary to detect Isl binding events in embryonic motor neurons
it will be important to investigate the functional significance of other putative transcription factor-effector relationships to achieve a better understanding of how transcriptional regulators control cell fate
Common Design 