Analysis of Growth Cone Signaling During Axon Development in Drosophila Melanogaster

Abstract

In addition, I demonstrated that growth cones expressing constitutively active Cdc42 that displayed guidance defects exhibited little change in their filopodial activity when compared to wild type, whereas others without guidance defects exhibited a significant increase. Moreover, the Y40C effector-loop mutation exerted little influence over filopodial activity caused by Cdc42 activation despite its ability to suppress the guidance defects of the growth cones. Collectively, these data provide evidence that Cdc42 controls filopodial activity in axonal growth cones independently of its effects on their guidance. Furthermore, my studies begin to suggest that actin reorganization alone cannot mediate proper axon outgrowth or guidance.