Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access published online on October 3, 2006
Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi:10.1093/icb/icl042
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Peter Lovell 1 and Leonid L. Moroz 2 *
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Synopsis The marine mollusc, Aplysia californica is a powerful experimental model in cellular and systems neuroscience. Aplysia neurons are large, colored, and located at the ganglionic surface. Because of this, many neurons can be easily identified in terms of their physiological properties, synaptic connections, and behavioral roles. Simple networks can be reconstructed in cell culture and have been widely useful for cellular and molecular biological studies of neuronal growth, synaptogenesis, and learning and memory mechanisms. Here, we show that Aplysia neurons can form truly gigantic growth cones reaching up to 630 µm in diameter making them the largest growth cones ever reported in the animal kingdom. Second, using time-lapse video microscopy we have characterized the dynamics of neuronal outgrowth for 3 identified cell types (mechanosensory neurons, L7 motoneurons, and modulatory MCC neurons) representing 3 major functional classes of neurons. We show both cell-specific and neurite-specific growth characteristics and an irregular oscillatory rate of outgrowth ranging from 20 to 100 µm/h. Third, we characterized the dynamics of axotomy-induced neurite outgrowth as well as extrasomatic localization of
Recent Developments in Neurobiology
The largest growth cones in the animal kingdom: an illustrated guide to the dynamics of Aplysia neuronal growth in cell culture
1 The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St Augustine, FL 32080, USA
2 The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St Augustine, FL 32080, USA; Department of Neuroscience and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Leonid L. Moroz, E-mail: moroz{at}whitney.ufl.edu
Abstract 
-tubulin mRNA in restricted regions of neuronal processes including growth cones and varicosities. The extrasomatically located mRNAs can be an important pool of neuronal transcripts supporting semiautonomous behavior of growth cones and localized synthesis of proteins in distinct and distant neuronal compartments. The reported data are compared with the existing literature from Lymnaea and Helisoma neurons as well as vertebrate preparations. Finally, our observations can provide an illustrated guide to complex behavior of neurons and glia in cell culture as well as their dependence upon various trophic factors and responses to neuronal injury.
From the symposium "Recent Developments in Neurobiology" presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 4-8, 2006, at Orlando, Florida.
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