Axonal guidance is the coordinated process by which growing axons navigate toward appropriate targets using attractive and repulsive molecular cues.[1][2] Although classically studied in development, guidance pathways remain relevant in adult nervous-system repair and in diseases where axon maintenance, regeneration, or circuit remodeling fail.[2:1]
Major axonal guidance systems include semaphorins, ephrins, netrins, slits, and associated receptors on the growth cone.[1:1][2:2] These cues shape pathfinding, branching, midline crossing, and target selection, and they can also influence glia, inflammation, and regeneration after injury.[2:3]
Exosomes: new targets for understanding axon guidance in the developing central nervous system. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2024). ↩︎ ↩︎
Axonal guidance molecules and the failure of axonal regeneration in the adult mammalian spinal cord. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (2008). ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎