![]() The Ret receptor plays a role in human disease and has previously been implicated in axon growth, but this is the first evidence to suggest that it also has a role in the patterning of dendrites. ![]() Further experiments revealed that this detachment occurred because the Ret receptor was no longer interacting with a group of structural proteins called integrins. However, when the gene for the Ret receptor did not work properly, the dendrites detached from this matrix and grew in three dimensions instead. High-resolution microscopy revealed that the dendrites were usually anchored to a scaffolding structure called the extracellular matrix, which ensured that they could only grow in two dimensions. When the gene for a protein called the Ret receptor was deleted or inhibited, the dendrites that grew were shrunken and disorganized. have now identified one of the proteins responsible for the self-avoidance process by studying the growth of dendrites on neurons in living fruit fly larvae. At the same time, in order to repel each other, the dendrites must encounter each other in the first place, which means that they need to grow on a common substrate or surface. This patterning process is called self-avoidance. The dendrites receive incoming signals from the environment or neighboring neurons and transmit these signals to the cell body, which then relays them along the axon and on to the dendrites of the next neuron.Īs the brain develops, newly formed dendrites recognize and repel other dendrites belonging to the same neuron, thereby spreading themselves out to occupy a larger volume. These include a large number of short protrusions called dendrites, and a long thin cable-like structure called the axon. Each neuron consists of a cell body, which contains the nucleus, and various structures that stick out from the cell body. There are hundreds of types of neurons, but all of them are variations on the same basic theme.
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