This book explores aspects of the development and regeneration of the of the rote nervaus system, beginning with fundamental considerations of borneobox genes in vertebrate pattern formation. Two papers em phasize the roJe of mause Hox genes in patterning: the Hox-2 complex in the branchial arches and Hox-7 at later stages of development, par ticularly in the spinal cord and brain. The importance of borneobox genes and other transcription factors in patterning the Drosophila embryo is weil known. With the discovery of homologaus genes in higher verte brates including man, we now possess the molecular tools to begin to investigate the molecular basis of patterning in higher vertebrate em bryos. Interestingly, the last few years have seen the discovery of a number of diverged borneobox genes and other transcription factors in the head, such genes being arranged in a segmental pattern within the developing rhombomeres of the brain and such compartmentalization of expression being extended to their derivatives, tagether with those of the neural crest. More recently, both Hox genes and Pax genes have been described in a segmental arrangement as far torward as the developing forebrain. The majority of the book deals with regeneration of the nervaus system. Several aspects are explored, including ways of promoting central nervous system axons to grow back into a degenerating environment, for example by the use of complex polymeric matrices.
The application of modern techniques from molecular biology to problems of development, coupled with new methods of immunocytochemical staining have brought a revolution to our understanding of pattern formation in the developing embryo and of the cellular interactions that regulate nervous tissue regeneration in the mature organism. Current work on the trophic and cellular interactions that regulate the growth and guidance of regenerating nerves offer hope that medicine may one day be able to help the neurologically damaged patient. The chapters in this volume encompass a diversity of approaches to the problems of development.
The authors, which include a representative sample of some of the leading figures in developmental neurobiology, have directed their attention at six main themes: pattern formation in the early embryo; theories of spatial pattern formation in development and the formulation of morphogenic rules; nerve growth and regeneration within the central nervous system; the role of glia in nervous system development and regeneration; cell recognition in neural histogenesis and as it affects the dynamics of axonal growth, target recognition and axonal regeneration; nervous system plasticity and memory. In selecting the topics for this volume the aim of the editors is to focus upon recent highlights in developmental neurobiology as well as to explore the problems and prospects for future applications in medicine.
