Emergent Growth Cone Responses to Combinations of Slit1 and Netrin 1 in Thalamocortical Axon Topography

SummaryHow guidance cues are integrated during the formation of complex axonal tracts remains largely unknown. Thalamocortical axons (TCAs), which convey sensory and motor information to the neocortex, have a rostrocaudal topographic organization initially established within the ventral telencephalon [1, 2 and 3]. Here, we show that this topography is set in a small hub, the corridor, which contains matching rostrocaudal gradients of Slit1 and Netrin 1. Using in vitro and in vivo experiments, we show that Slit1 is a rostral repellent that positions intermediate axons. For rostral axons, although Slit1 is also repulsive and Netrin 1 has no chemotactic activity, the two factors combined generate attraction. These results show that Slit1 has a dual context-dependent role in TCA pathfinding and furthermore reveal that a combination of cues produces an emergent activity that neither of them has alone. Our study thus provides a novel framework to explain how a limited set of guidance cues can generate a vast diversity of axonal responses necessary for proper wiring of the nervous system.

► The corridor is a decision point for the subpallial topography of TCAs
► Slit1 acts as a rostral repellent to position intermediate TCAs
► The repellent Slit1 enables Netrin 1 attractive activity on rostral axons
► The combination of two cues can elicit a response that neither of them has alone