Bidirectional signaling between Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their cell-surface protein signals, the ephrins, comprises one mechanism for guiding motor axons to their proper targets. During projection of motor axons from the lateral motor column (LMC) motor neurons of the spinal cord to the hindlimb muscles in chick embryos, ephrin-A5 has been shown to be expressed in the LMC motor axons until they reach the base of the limb bud and initiate sorting into their presumptive dorsal and ventral nerve trunks, at which point expression is extinguished. We tested the hypothesis that this dynamic pattern of ephrin-A5 expression in LMC motor axons is important for the growth and guidance of the axons to, and into, the hindlimb by knocking down endogenous ephrin-A5 expression in the motor neurons and their axons. No perturbation of LMC motor axon projections was observed in response to this treatment, suggesting that ephrin-A5 is not needed for LMC motor axon growth or guidance.
Keywords: chick; in ovo electroporation; motor neurons.