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SUMMARY:Two signals converge on a nerve cell’s path: The interplay betwe
 en chemical and mechanical signals in the developing brain - Eva Pillai
DTSTART:20210222T143000Z
DTEND:20210222T153000Z
UID:TALK154726@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:98764
DESCRIPTION:During nervous system development\, growing neurons respond to
  mechanical as well as chemical signals in their environment. How these di
 fferent signals interact\, to guide neurons to their end target\, is curre
 ntly poorly understood. We found that retinal ganglion cell axons grow alo
 ng stiffness gradients in the developing Xenopus brain. Mechanosensitive i
 on channels (MSCs) are key players in transducing these mechanical cues in
 to intracellular signals. Pharmacological blocking of MSCs and knockdown o
 f the MSC\, Piezo1\, caused severe pathfinding errors in vivo. In addition
  to directly impacting axon growth\, downregulation of Piezo1 also dramati
 cally altered the expression of semaphorin3A (Sema3A)\, a chemical guidanc
 e cue known to be critical in axon pathfinding. While Piezo1 knockdown sof
 tened brain tissue\, knockdown of Sema3A did not alter brain mechanics. Se
 ma3A-producing neuroepithelial cells grown on substrates of varying stiffn
 ess adapted expression levels of Sema3A to their mechanical environment. O
 ur results thus indicate that the expression of signalling molecules may b
 e modulated by tissue mechanics\, which has important implications given t
 hat tissue stiffness changes throughout development as well as during agei
 ng and disease. 
LOCATION:Online
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