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. 2013 Jun 4;11(6):e1001572. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001572

Figure 7. Regulatory mechanisms underlying dendritic and axonal growth.

Figure 7

(A) Three distinct mechanisms regulating dendritic and axonal growth. Shared mechanisms control dendrite and axon co-growth. Dedicated mechanisms direct compartment-specific growth. Bimodal mechanisms differentially regulate dendritic and axonal growth. (B) A model that postulates the differential control of dendritic and axonal growth by the DLK pathway, which is based on the present study. In this model, DLK plays a dual role in neuron morphogenesis. Up-regulated DLK, caused either by PHR mutations or DLK overactivation, promotes the growth of axon terminals but restricts that of high-order dendritic branches. Such a dichotomous function is the result of signaling divergence into two transcriptional programs that are each dedicated to either dendritic or axonal growth. Fos serves a permissive role in the axonal regulation by DLK, whereas Kn specifically mediates the dendritic regulation by DLK.