Wrong Directions

To build the brain’s complex network, neurons are guided by cell surface proteins, binding to or repelling each other to establish the correct connections. Among these are latrophilins, which poke outwards from the cell membrane to contact other neurons, but also affect intracellular processes, interacting with signalling molecules called G proteins. Latrophilin-2 is critical for patterning in the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with memory. In mice, researchers found latrophilin-2 was involved in both neurons making projections towards others and those receiving contact, shaping connections through repulsive interactions with another protein, tenurin-3. Altering the distribution of latrophilin-2, expressing it in neurons known as proximal CA1 cells (pictured, in turquoise), changed the connections they developed. Yet projecting neurons weren't disrupted if latrophilin-2’s intracellular activities were also blocked, suggesting that external and internal signalling can be intertwined. Exploring these complex interactions could help understand how connections can go awry in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image from work by Daniel T Pederick and Nicole A Perry-Hauser, and colleagues
• Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA & Departments of Psychiatry and Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, May 2023