Molecular mechanisms regulating motor neuron development and degeneration

Abstract

Publisher This chapter discusses the developmental biology and pathophysiology of the somatic motor neuron. Certain molecular pathways that facilitate motor-neuron survival during development are involved in the maintenance of adult motor neurons. Induction of an ordered recapitulation of key developmental processes is necessary if the promotion of motor neuron regeneration becomes an effective approach to the treatment of conditions that affect the somatic neurons, of which amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most common. Motor neurons arise from multipotential neuroepithelial precursor cells that generate the entire repertoire of neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes with..