An essential feature of vertebrate neural development is ensheathment of axons with myelin, an insulating membrane formed by oligodendrocytes. Not all axons are myelinated, but mechanisms directing myelination of specific axons are unknown. Using zebrafish we show that activity-dependent secretion stabilizes myelin sheath formation on select axons. When VAMP2-dependent exocytosis is silenced in single axons, oligodendrocytes preferentially ensheath neighboring axons. Nascent sheaths formed on silenced axons are shorter in length, but when activity of neighboring axons is also suppressed, inhibition of sheath growth is relieved. Using in vivo time-lapse microscopy, we show that only 25% of oligodendrocyte processes that initiate axon wrapping are stabilized during normal development, and that initiation does not require activity. Instead, oligodendrocyte processes wrapping silenced axons are retracted more frequently. We propose that axon selection for myelination results from excessive and indiscriminate initiation of wrapping followed by refinement that is biased by activity-dependent secretion from axons.

Graded distributions of extracellular cues guide developing axons toward their targets. A network of second messengers, Ca2+ and cyclic nucleotides, shapes cue-derived information into either attractive or repulsive signals that steer growth cones bidirectionally. Emerging evidence suggests that such guidance signals create a localized imbalance between exocytosis and endocytosis, which in turn redirects membrane, adhesion and cytoskeletal components asymmetrically across the growth cone to bias the direction of axon extension. These recent advances allow us to propose a unifying model of how the growth cone translates shallow gradients of environmental information into polarized activity of the steering machinery for axon guidance.

Gradients of chemorepellent factors released from myelin may impair axon pathfinding and neuro-regeneration after injury. Analogous to the process of chemotaxis in invasive tumor cells, we found that axonal growth cones of Xenopus spinal neurons modulate the functional distribution of integrin receptors during chemorepulsion induced by myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG). A focal MAG gradient induced polarized endocytosis and concomitant asymmetric loss of β1-integrin and vinculin-containing adhesions on the repellent side during repulsive turning. Loss of symmetrical β1-integrin function was both necessary and sufficient for chemorepulsion, which required internalization by clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Induction of repulsive Ca2+ signals was necessary and sufficient for the stimulated rapid endocytosis of β1-integrin. Altogether, these findings identify β1-integrin as an important functional cargo during Ca2+-dependent rapid endocytosis stimulated by a diffusible guidance cue. Such dynamic redistribution allows the growth cone to rapidly adjust adhesiveness across its axis, an essential feature for initiating chemotactic turning.

Myelin membrane, which ensheaths axons, has an unusually high amount of cholesterol. Cholesterol influences membrane fluidity and assembles lipid-rich microdomains within membranes, and some studies have shown that cholesterol is important for myelination. How cholesterol influences the development and differentiation of oligodendrocytes, glial cells that make myelin, is not known nor is clear whether isoprenoids, which also are products of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, contribute to myelination. Through a forward genetic screen in zebrafish we discovered that mutation of hmgcs1, which encodes an enzyme necessary for isoprenoid and cholesterol synthesis, causes oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to migrate past their target axons and to fail to express myelin genes. Drawing on a combination of pharmacological inhibitor and rescue experiments, we provide evidence that isoprenoids and protein prenylation, but not cholesterol, are required in OPCs to halt their migration at target axons. On the other hand, cholesterol, but not isoprenoids, is necessary both for axon ensheathment and myelin gene expression. Our data reveal that different products of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway have distinct roles in oligodendrocyte development and that they together help to coordinate directed migration, axon wrapping, and gene expression.

Pathogenic substitutions in the Lrrk2 protein have been shown to be an important cause of both familial and sporadic parkinsonism. The molecular pathway involved in Lrrk2 dopaminergic neuron degeneration remains elusive. Employing a combination of Lrrk2-mediated protein precipitation and tandem mass spectrometry, we identified 14 potential Lrrk2 binding partners. The majority of these interactions may be subgrouped into three functional cellular pathways: (i) chaperone-mediated response, (ii) proteins associated with the cytoskeleton and trafficking and (iii) phosphorylation and kinase activity. Future investigation of these candidates is now warranted and may help resolve the pathomechanism behind Lrrk2 neurodegeneration.