During nervous system development, axon branching at nerve terminals is an essential step in the formation of functional connections between neurons and target cells. It is known that target tissues exert control of terminal arborization through secretion of trophic factors. However, whether the in-growing axons themselves produce diffusible cues to instruct target innervation remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFeedback inhibition of adenylyl cyclase III (ACIII) via Ca(2+)-induced phosphorylation has long been hypothesized to contribute to response termination and adaptation of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). To directly determine the functional significance of this feedback mechanism for olfaction in vivo, we genetically mutated serine(1076) of ACIII, the only residue responsible for Ca(2+)-induced phosphorylation and inhibition of ACIII (Wei et al., 1996, 1998), to alanine in mice.
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