During development, neurons are guided by multiple guidance molecules and their receptors, but how developing neurons integrate these different guidance cues to form neural circuits is unclear. Alex Kolodkin's team has been examining the roles of plexins – receptors for the semaphorin guidance cues–in the developing Drosophila nervous system. On p. 2125, these researchers report important new insights into how the multiple components of the semaphorin system interact by showing that the two fly plexins (PlexA and PlexB) have both distinct and overlapping functions in central and peripheral axon pathfinding. Their observation that PlexA and PlexB physically associate in vivo and can use common downstream signalling pathways provides an explanation for their overlapping functions. The researchers' discovery that PlexB is a receptor for the secreted semaphorin Sema-2a–PlexA is a receptor for the transmembrane semaphorin Sema-1a–suggests that the distinct roles of the two plexins in axon pathfinding could be mediated by interactions with different semaphorins. Together, these results reveal how complex neuronal guidance is determined at different molecular levels.
Axon guidance gets per-Plexin
Axon guidance gets per-Plexin. Development 1 June 2006; 133 (11): e1101. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology

In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.