IMR Press / JIN / Volume 17 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin.2018.04.0409
Open Access Research article
A simple dynamic model that accounts for regulation of neuronal polarity
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1 Faubert Lab, Universit ´e de Montr´ eal, H3T1P1, Canada
2 Amity School of Applied Sciences, Amity University, Rajasthan 303001, India
3 Amity Institute of biotechnology, Amity University, Rajasthan 303001, India
4 Department of Biology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA 99362, USA
*Correspondence: kanadray00@gmail.com (K. Ray)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2018, 17(4), 323–330; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin.2018.04.0409
Submitted: 26 July 2017 | Accepted: 7 November 2017 | Published: 15 November 2018
Copyright: © 2018 The authors. Published by IMR press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Abstract

It has been shown that competing molecular interactions of atypical protein kinase C isoforms regulate neuronal polarity. For instance, silencing one particular isoform known as protein kinase M- ζ or overexpression of a second isoform known as protein kinase C- λ in hippocampal neurons alters neuronal polarity, resulting in neurons with extra axons. In contrast, the overexpression of protein kinase M- ζ prevents axon specification. These data suggest that antagonistic competition between PKC isoforms could contribute to the development of polarity and axon specification. Here, an excitatory and inhibitory non-linear network model is employed to describe neuronal polarity under different conditions. The model shifts the balance of excitation and inhibition to replicate a variety of scenarios during axon outgrowth, which are then compared with experimental results.

Keywords
Neurites
axon formation
neuronal polarity
excitatory-inhibitory network
winner-take-all network
Figures
Fig. 1.
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