THE ROLE OF RECEPTOR CHANNEL ACTIVITY IN NEURONAL CELL-MIGRATION/

Confocal laser microscopy, in conjunction with carbocyanine dyes and c alcium-sensitive fluorescent indicators, was used in slices and explan t cultures of developing cerebellum to study cellular mechanisms under lying a motility of neuronal cell migration. The results indicate that a combination of voltage- and ligand-activated ion channels cooperati vely regulates Ca2+ influx into the migrating cells. We suggest that m olecules, present in the local cellular milieu, affect cell motility b y activating specific ion channels and second messengers that influenc e polymerization of stiff and contractile cytoskeletal proteins. This early interaction between postmitotic neurons and surrounding cells co ntrols the rate of their movements, sculpts their shapes, establishes their positions, and, therefore, indirectly determines their identitie s to prior formation of synaptic connections. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.