The extension and retraction of filopodia in response to extracellular cues is thought to be an important initial step that determines the direction of growth cone advance. We sought to understand how the dynamic behavior of the actin cytoskeleton is regulated to produce extension or retraction. By observing the movement of fiduciary marks on actin filaments in growth cones of a neuroblastoma c...

The extracellular matrix through which growth cones navigate contains molecules, such as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, that can inhibit growth cone advance and induce branching and turning. Growth cone turning is accompanied by rearrangement of the cytoskeleton. To identify changes in the organization of actin filaments and microtubules that occur as growth cones turn, we used time-lapse ph...

We studied, through first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory, the charge distribution, the density of states and the tip rearrangement of two mirrored boron nitride nanocones with 240Å disclination angles and separated from each other from 2Å, 3Å and 10Å under the influence of an external electric field ranging from 0.5 V/Å to 1.1 V/Å applied along the axis. Changes ...

We show that quantum Hall states on surfaces with conical singularities behave as conformal primaries near the singular points, with a conformal dimension controlled by the gravitational anomaly. We show that the electronic fluid at the cone tip possesses an intrinsic angular momentum equal to the conformal dimension, in units of the Planck constant. Finally, we argue that the gravitational ano...

We have used video time-lapse microscopy to analyze in vitro the interactions of growth cones of newborn rat dorsal root ganglion cells with dissociated young rat CNS glial cells present in the cultures at low density. To provide optimal conditions for neurite extension, cells were grown on laminin and in NGF-supplemented medium. Our initial observation showed that there are 2 subpopulations of...

The motile behaviors of growth cones at the ends of elongating axons determine pathways of axonal connections in developing nervous systems. Growth cones express receptors for molecular guidance cues in the local environment, and receptor-guidance cue binding initiates cytoplasmic signaling that regulates the cytoskeleton to control growth cone advance, turning, and branching behaviors. The dyn...

Neuronal growth cones are highly motile structures that tip developing neurites and explore their surroundings before axo-dendritic contact and synaptogenesis. However, the membrane proteins organizing these processes remain insufficiently understood. Here we identify that the synaptic cell adhesion molecule 1 (SynCAM 1), an immunoglobulin superfamily member, is already expressed in developing ...

fast fracture is one of the major failure modes in brittle polymers. generally, crack growth in these polymers may occur under combined tensile-shear loading. however, the fracture test data reported previously for some dental restorative resins can not be predicted by using the available fracture criteria.in this paper, a modified fracture criterion is used for estimating the fracture load for...

We use a parametrized linear combination of atomic orbitals calculations to determine the stability, optimum geometry, and electronic properties of nanometer-sized capped graphitic cones, called ‘‘nanohorns.’’ Different nanohorn morphologies are considered, which differ in the relative location of the five terminating pentagons. Simulated scanning tunneling microscopy images of the various stru...

The phototransduction enzymatic cascade in cones is less understood than in rods, and the zebrafish is an ideal model with which to investigate vertebrate and human vision. Therefore, here, for the first time, the zebrafish green cone photoresponse is characterized also to obtain a firm basis for evaluating how it is modulated by exogenous molecules. To this aim, a powerful method was developed...