How neurons maintain their axons long-term: an integrated view of axon biology and pathology

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Gaynor Smith¹  Sean T. Sweeney²  Cahir J. O’Kane³  Andreas Prokop⁴ 

[1] Cardiff University, School of Medicine, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff, United Kingdom;Department of Biology, University of York and York Biomedical Research Institute, York, United Kingdom;Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Biology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom;

关键词: neurodegeneration;    axons;    axonopathies;    organelles;    microtubules;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2023.1236815

 received in 2023-06-08, accepted in 2023-07-06,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Axons are processes of neurons, up to a metre long, that form the essential biological cables wiring nervous systems. They must survive, often far away from their cell bodies and up to a century in humans. This requires self-sufficient cell biology including structural proteins, organelles, and membrane trafficking, metabolic, signalling, translational, chaperone, and degradation machinery—all maintaining the homeostasis of energy, lipids, proteins, and signalling networks including reactive oxygen species and calcium. Axon maintenance also involves specialised cytoskeleton including the cortical actin-spectrin corset, and bundles of microtubules that provide the highways for motor-driven transport of components and organelles for virtually all the above-mentioned processes. Here, we aim to provide a conceptual overview of key aspects of axon biology and physiology, and the homeostatic networks they form. This homeostasis can be derailed, causing axonopathies through processes of ageing, trauma, poisoning, inflammation or genetic mutations. To illustrate which malfunctions of organelles or cell biological processes can lead to axonopathies, we focus on axonopathy-linked subcellular defects caused by genetic mutations. Based on these descriptions and backed up by our comprehensive data mining of genes linked to neural disorders, we describe the ‘dependency cycle of local axon homeostasis’ as an integrative model to explain why very different causes can trigger very similar axonopathies, providing new ideas that can drive the quest for strategies able to battle these devastating diseases.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Smith, Sweeney, O’Kane and Prokop.