the function of the proteins secreted by cells of the ventral midline of the spinal cord is patterning the ventral axis.
what is the function of the proteins secreted by cells of the ventral midline of the spinal cord?
patterning the ventral axis
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studies of central nervous system (cns) development in chick and rodent models have identified the netrin-1 protein as a particularly important vertebrate axonal guidance cue. most significantly, it was observed that the specialized cells of the floor plate located at the ventral midline of the embryonic brain secrete netrin-1, which resulted in a protein gradient. this gradient is most concentrated at the ventral midline and becomes increasingly diffuse as you move dorsally. additional research in netrin deficient mice found that when netrin associates with the deleted in colorectal cancer (dcc) receptor on the axonal growth cone an attractant response is initiated. this was further supported by an observed absence of ventral commissure (i.e. corpus callosum) development in mice lacking either netrin-1 or dcc. similar results were observed in experiments with the netrin-1 homolog unc-6 discovered in "c. elegans" the same early expression and formation of a protein concentration gradient emanating from the ventral midline is observed in epidermal cells of the developing worm. evidence suggests that this gradient is essential for the long-range function of unc-6 in guiding the initial circumferential migration of axons to the ventral midline and that the unc-40 receptor mediates the attractive response. as additional axons reach the midline, the temporal and spatial expression of unc-6 becomes increasing restricted, indicating that after a more general dorsal-ventral guidance of axons, unc-6 is further involved in directing axons to more specific locations.
netrin