Netrin-DCC, Robo-Slit, and heparan sulfate proteoglycans coordinate lateral positioning of longitudinal dopaminergic diencephalospinal axons.

Longitudinal axons provide connectivity between remote areas of the nervous system. Although the molecular determinants driving commissural pathway formation have been well characterized, mechanisms specifying the formation of longitudinal axon tracts in the vertebrate nervous system are largely unknown. Here, we study axon guidance mechanisms of the longitudinal dopaminergic (DA) diencephalospinal tract.