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Axon.
Axon
An axon, or "nerve fiber," is a long slender projection of a nerve cell, or "neuron," which conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma. Axons are in effect the primary transmission lines of the nervous system, and as bundles they help make up nerves. Individual axons are microscopic in diameter--typically about one micrometer across-- but may extend to macroscopic lengths. The longest axons in the human body, for example, are those of the sciatic nerve, which run from the base of the spine to the big toe of each foot. These single-cell fibers may extend a meter or even longer.
In vertebrates generally, the axons of many neurons are sheathed in myelin, which is formed by either of two types of glial cells: Schwann cells ensheathing peripheral neurons and oligodendrocytes insulating those of the central nervous system. Along myelinated nerve fibers, gaps in the sheath known as nodes of Ranvier occur at evenly spaced intervals, enabling an especially rapid mode of electrical impulse propagation called saltation.
The axons of some neurons branch to form axon collaterals, along which the bifurcated impulse travels simultaneously to signal more than one other cell.
Compare dendrite.
The above article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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from PUBMED
1: Jones TB, Ankeny DP, Guan Z, McGaughy V, Fisher LC, Basso DM, Popovich PG.
Passive or active immunization with myelin basic protein impairs neurological
function and exacerbates neuropathology after spinal cord injury in rats.
J Neurosci. 2004 Apr 14;24(15):3752-61.
PMID: 15084655
2: Tamas G, Szabadics J.
Summation of Unitary IPSPs Elicited by Identified Axo-axonic Interneurons.
Cereb Cortex. 2004 Apr 14 [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 15084495
3: Broadie K.
Axon pruning: an active role for glial cells.
Curr Biol. 2004 Apr 20;14(8):R302-4.
PMID: 15084298
4: Ma Y, Shakiryanova D, Vardya I, Popov SV.
Quantitative analysis of microtubule transport in growing nerve processes.
Curr Biol. 2004 Apr 20;14(8):725-30.
PMID: 15084289
5: Watts RJ, Schuldiner O, Perrino J, Larsen C, Luo L.
Glia Engulf Degenerating Axons during Developmental Axon Pruning.
Curr Biol. 2004 Apr 20;14(8):678-84.
PMID: 15084282
6: Awasaki T, Ito K.
Engulfing Action of Glial Cells Is Required for Programmed Axon Pruning during
Drosophila Metamorphosis.
Curr Biol. 2004 Apr 20;14(8):668-77.
PMID: 15084281
7: Sabatier C, Plump AS, Le Ma, Brose K, Tamada A, Murakami F, Lee EY,
Tessier-Lavigne M.
The divergent robo family protein rig-1/robo3 is a negative regulator of slit
responsiveness required for midline crossing by commissural axons.
Cell. 2004 Apr 16;117(2):157-69.
PMID: 15084255
8: [No authors listed]
[In Process Citation]
Morfologiia. 2004;125(1):16-22. Russian.
PMID: 15083572
9: Millesi H.
[Surgery of post-traumatic brachial plexus lesions (personal approach in 2003)]
Handchir Mikrochir Plast Chir. 2004 Feb;36(1):29-36. German.
PMID: 15083388
10: Cui XY, Hu QD, Tekaya M, Shimoda Y, Ang BT, Nie DY, Sun L, Hu WP, Karsak M,
Duka T, Takeda Y, Ou LY, Dawe GS, Yu FG, Ahmed S, Jin LH, Schachner M, Watanabe
K, Arsenijevic Y, Xiao ZC.
NB-3/Notch1 pathway via Deltex1 promotes neural progenitor cell differentiation
into oligodendrocytes.
J Biol Chem. 2004 Apr 12 [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 15082708
11: Mehta N, Loria PM, Hobert O.
A Genetic Screen for Neurite Outgrowth Mutants in Caenorhabditis elegans
Reveals a New Function for the F-box Ubiquitin Ligase Component LIN-23.
Genetics. 2004 Mar;166(3):1253-67.
PMID: 15082545
12: LaVoie MJ, Card JP, Hastings TG.
Microglial activation precedes dopamine terminal pathology in
methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity.
Exp Neurol. 2004 May;187(1):47-57.
PMID: 15081587
13: Lee KH, Bishop GA, Tian JB, King JS.
Evidence for an axonal localization of the type 2 corticotropin-releasing
factor receptor during postnatal development of the mouse cerebellum.
Exp Neurol. 2004 May;187(1):11-22.
PMID: 15081583
14: Cramer KS, Bermingham-McDonogh O, Krull CE, Rubel EW.
EphA4 signaling promotes axon segregation in the developing auditory system.
Dev Biol. 2004 May 1;269(1):26-35.
PMID: 15081355
15: Pennartz S, Belvindrah R, Tomiuk S, Zimmer C, Hofmann K, Conradt M, Bosio
A, Cremer H.
Purification of neuronal precursors from the adult mouse brain: comprehensive
gene expression analysis provides new insights into the control of cell
migration, differentiation, and homeostasis.
Mol Cell Neurosci. 2004 Apr;25(4):692-706.
PMID: 15080897
16: Schwarting GA, Raitcheva D, Crandall JE, Burkhardt C, Puschel AW.
Semaphorin 3A-mediated axon guidance regulates convergence and targeting of P2
odorant receptor axons.
Eur J Neurosci. 2004 Apr;19(7):1800-10.
PMID: 15078553
17: Axmacher N, Draguhn A.
Inhibition of GABA release by presynaptic ionotropic GABA receptors in
hippocampal CA3.
Neuroreport. 2004 Feb 9;15(2):329-34.
PMID: 15076763
18: Mohler PJ, Hoffman JA, Davis JQ, Abdi KM, Kim CR, Jones SK, Davis LH,
Roberts KF, Bennett V.
Isoform specificity among ankyrins: An amphipathic alpha-helix in the divergent
regulatory domain of ankyrin-B interacts with the molecular co-chaperone
Hdj1/Hsp40.
J Biol Chem. 2004 Apr 9 [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 15075330
19: Kennedy JM, Zochodne DW.
Heightened pain and delayed regeneration of galanin axons in diabetic mice.
Neuroreport. 2004 Apr 9;15(5):807-10.
PMID: 15073519
20: Dalpe G, Zhang LW, Zheng H, Culotti JG.
Conversion of cell movement responses to Semaphorin-1 and Plexin-1 from
attraction to repulsion by lowered levels of specific RAC GTPases in C. elegans.
Development. 2004 Apr 8 [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 15073148
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