About this Research Topic
The goal of this Research Topic is to present articles that study novel and classical mechanisms underlying neuronal guidance in a wide range of cellular contexts in health and disease. We are expecting three themes related to neuronal guidance: microRNAs, exosomes, and neurodegeneration. For example, accumulating evidence suggests that microRNAs may be incorporated into multiple signaling circuits to fine-tune the responsiveness to guidance cues, as well as mechanical and adhesive signals, at the right time and place. Second, exosomes and tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) have been attracting attention as novel cellular strategies for cell-cell communication and organelle/component transfer. Third, many Genome-Wide Association Study analyses have suggested that neuronal guidance genes are risk factors or disease modifiers for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We hypothesize that neuronal guidance signaling pathways drive and/or modulate disease progression. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Uncovering these aspects may open another avenue to developing effective therapeutic strategies, possibly in combination with drugs that block abnormal protein aggregation. Additionally, molecular strategies modulating the neuronal guidance system are expected to offer novel treatments to control neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and/or neuropsychiatric diseases.
The specific aim of this Research Topic is to present molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal guidance signaling in health and diverse diseases. We welcome Original Research articles, Brief Research Reports, Methods, Reviews, and Perspectives that highlight recent advances in this field. Particular subtopics include, but are not limited to:
• Exploring new mechanisms, including microRNAs, that underlie axon guidance, neuronal migration and cell-cell communication;
• Investigate new cellular strategies, such as exosomes and TNTs, that are used for cell-cell communication in neuronal guidance;
• Study intracellular signaling pathways downstream of neuronal guidance cues and receptors that mediate the crosstalk and/or hierarchal regulation of guidance pathways;
• Examine the design principles by which relatively limited sets of guidance genes establish the vast scales of the neural architecture;
• Investigate the molecular mechanisms of body patterning during early development and neural mapping regulated by neuronal guidance genes;
• Explore the pathological mechanisms by which neuronal guidance signaling contributes to a wide range of human diseases, including neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases (we can include non-neurological diseases);
• Study the guidance cue-mediated control of neuroinflammation.
Keywords: Axon guidance, neuronal migration, neurodevelopment, neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation
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