(2011) analyzed Vegfa120/120 mice, which cannot produce the Npn-1-binding isoforms VEGF164 or VEGF188, but do express VEGF120, which does not bind Npn-1 and supports blood vessel formation. Similar to Npn-1 null mice, Vegfa120/120 mice display increased ipsilateral projections and decreased contralateral projections, supporting the idea that VEGF/Npn-1 interactions promote RGC axon Selleck RO4929097 crossing at the optic chiasm. Vegfa120/120 mice survive to birth, so retrograde DiI labeling was employed to independently assess ipsilaterally projecting RGC axons and determine the origin of misrouted axons within the retina. In wild-type mice, ipsilateral RGCs are primarily restricted to the ventrotemporal region

of the retina ( Figure 1B). In Vegfa120/120 mice, however, retrogradely labeled INK1197 datasheet RGCs were found throughout the temporal and nasal retina. To directly test whether VEGF functions as a chemoattractant, RGC growth cones were exposed to a VEGF164 gradient. Consistent with a previous study

showing that VEGF promotes regenerative growth of axotomized RGCs in culture ( Böcker-Meffert et al., 2002), VEGF164 was found to act as a selective attractant for dorsotemporal RGC growth cones, neurons that give rise to contralateral projections, but not for ventrotemporal RGC growth cones, neurons that give rise to ipsilateral projections. Collectively, these studies show that VEGF164 functions as a chemoattractant to promote midline crossing of Npn-1-expressing RGC axons at the optic chiasm in vivo. VEGF also functions as an attractant for spinal commissural axons, as reported in the study by Ruiz de Almodovar et al. (2011). VEGF is expressed at the floor plate at the time when spinal commissural axons cross the midline (Figure 1A). Mice lacking function of a science single VEGF allele specifically in the floor plate (Vegf FP+/−) secrete less VEGF and exhibit concomitant abnormal pathfinding of precrossing

commissural axons. While most Robo3-positive commissural axons reach the floor plate in Vegf FP+/− mice, labeled commissural axons in embryonic spinal cord sections are observed to be defasciculated, and they often project to the lateral edge of the ventral spinal cord. Important control experiments show that the defects observed are not secondary to altered expression of Netrin-1 or Shh in the floor plate of Vegf FP+/− mice. In vitro, an attractive response by commissural axons to a gradient of VEGF-A was observed in the Dunn chamber assay. Interestingly, VEGF-A attraction was completely abolished in the presence of a function blocking anti-Flk1 (KDR/VEGFR2) antibody or by pharmacological inhibition of Src family kinases. Anti-Npn1 in this same assay had no effect on VEGF-A attraction. Immunolabeling of precrossing commissural axons revealed coexpression of Flk1 and Robo3, and in vivo, conditional ablation of Flk1 in commissural neurons (Flk1CN-ko) phenocopies defects observed in the Vegf FP+/− mice.