TY - JOUR
T1 - The development of neuronal polarity
T2 - A retrospective view
AU - Banker, Gary
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 the authors.
PY - 2018/2/21
Y1 - 2018/2/21
N2 - In 1988, Carlos Dotti, Chris Sullivan, and I published a paper on the establishment of polarity by hippocampal neurons in culture, which continues to be frequently cited 30 years later (Dotti et al., 1988). By following individual neurons from the time of plating until they had formed well developed axonal and dendritic arbors, we identified the five stages of development that lead to the mature expression of neuronal polarity. We were surprised to find that, before axon formation, the cells pass through a multipolar phase, in which several, apparently identical short neurites undergo periods of extension and retraction. Then one of these neurites begins a period of prolonged growth, becoming the definitive axon; the remaining neurites subsequently become dendrites. This observation suggested that any of the initial neurites were capable of becoming axons, a hypothesis confirmed by later work. In this Progressions article, I will try to recall the circumstances that led to this work, recapture some of the challenges we faced in conducting these experiments, and consider why some of today’s neuroscientists still find this paper relevant.
AB - In 1988, Carlos Dotti, Chris Sullivan, and I published a paper on the establishment of polarity by hippocampal neurons in culture, which continues to be frequently cited 30 years later (Dotti et al., 1988). By following individual neurons from the time of plating until they had formed well developed axonal and dendritic arbors, we identified the five stages of development that lead to the mature expression of neuronal polarity. We were surprised to find that, before axon formation, the cells pass through a multipolar phase, in which several, apparently identical short neurites undergo periods of extension and retraction. Then one of these neurites begins a period of prolonged growth, becoming the definitive axon; the remaining neurites subsequently become dendrites. This observation suggested that any of the initial neurites were capable of becoming axons, a hypothesis confirmed by later work. In this Progressions article, I will try to recall the circumstances that led to this work, recapture some of the challenges we faced in conducting these experiments, and consider why some of today’s neuroscientists still find this paper relevant.
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U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1372-16.2018
DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1372-16.2018
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29467146
AN - SCOPUS:85042398475
SN - 0270-6474
VL - 38
SP - 1867
EP - 1873
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 8
ER -