Source: Riken Research
Date: 16 May 2008
Summary:
Molecular biologists at RIKEN’s Brain Science Institute in Wako have unraveled details of the genetic controls that determine the distinctive shapes of four classes of sensory nerve cells in the fruit fly, Drosophila. Nerve cell shapes vary according to the number, branching and disposition of their projections or dendrites, collectively known as arborization. This determines their capacity for interacting with their environment and with other nerve cells or neurons, hence their computational ability and roles. Knowing how such shapes are determined is important for understanding nerve cell function and neurological disease.
