Short-range guidance of olfactory bulb axons is independent of repulsive factor Slit

During development, mitral cells, the major output neurons of the olfactory bulb, project their axons caudolaterally into the telencephalon and form t he lateral olfactory tract (LOT). Two types of guidance cues have been sugg ested for this projection. First, a long-range factor Slit, which is secret ed from the septum, repels mitral cell axons into a caudolateral direction. Second, the pathway of mitral cell axons contains a subset of neurons desi gnated as lot cells, which guide the axons through short-range interactions . It is not clear how these two guidance cues relate to each other and how they share the physiological roles. Here we examined the behavior of mitral cell axons in organotypic culture on ectopic application of Slit and inhib ition of endogenous Slit signaling. The results suggested that the short-ra nge guidance cue in the LOT pathway functions independently from Slit. Furt hermore, our results showed that removal of the septum and inhibition of Sl it signaling did not affect the projection of mitral cell axons. Although t he septum and exogenous Slit can repel olfactory bulb axons, our results ca st doubts on the physiological relevance of the septum and endogenous Slit in guiding the projection of mitral cell axons.