Stylized axon arbor of a neuron. Yellow circle: root vertex at the axon initial segment; red circles: bifurcation vertices; black circles: terminal vertices at the axon's synaptic terminals.

Axon growth stops as the neuron and its axon connect to the neural circuit. "PTBP2 and SHTN1 give us an entry point to understand how splicing changes occur to promote axon growth," Zheng said.

GPCRs on the presynaptic neuron’s axon terminal alter the function of voltage-gated ion channels and modulate neurotransmitter release.

In a typical neuron, the cell body comprises only about 10-20% of the cytoplasm; the rest lies in the axon and dendrites. Thus, understanding neurons requires acknowledging the axon's role.

They are the “input” part of the cell. Axon — this long projection carries information from the soma and sends it off to other cells. This is the “output” part of the cell.

“A neuron’s axon is less than two microns wide, so if you want to measure the optical properties, you need to use nanophotonic techniques,” says Postigo.

Subcellular transcriptomes and proteomes of developing axon projections in the cerebral cortex. Nature, 2019; 565 (7739): 356 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0847-y ...