Expression and role of complex carbohydrates in axon guidance in the olfactory system

Primary sensory neurons in the vertebrate olfactory systems are characterised by the differential expression of distinct cell surface carbohydrates. We show here that the histo-blood groups Sda (or CT1 antigen) and H are expressed by primary sensory neurons in the olfactory system, while the blood group A carbohydrate is expressed by a subset of vomeronasal neurons only in the developing accessory olfactory system. We have used both loss-of-function and gain-of-function approaches to manipulate expression of these carbohydrates in the olfactory system. In null mutant mice lacking the alpha(1,2)fucosyltransferase FUT1, the blood group H and A carbohydrates were not expressed in the olfactory systems which caused delayed development of the nerve fibre and glomerular layers in the main olfactory bulb. In contrast, ubiquitous expression of blood group A on olfactory axons in gain-of-function transgenic mice perturbed the ability of vomeronasal axons to terminate in the accessory olfactory bulb and affected the selective targeting of axons in the main olfactory bulb. During regeneration following bulbectomy, vomeronasal axons were unable to effectively sort out from the main olfactory axons when blood group A was misexpressed. These results provide in vivo evidence for a role of specific cell surface carbohydrates during development and regeneration of the olfactory nerve pathways.

The Wnt receptor Ryk is required for Wnt5a-mediated axon guidance on the contralateral side of the corpus callosum

Ryk (receptor related to tyrosine kinase) has been shown to be a novel Wnt receptor in both Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Recently, Ryk-Wnt interactions were shown to guide corticospinal axons down the embryonic mouse spinal cord. Here we show that, in Ryk-deficient mice, cortical axons project aberrantly across the major forebrain commissure, the corpus callosum. Many mouse mutants have been described in which loss-of-function mutations result in the inability of callosal axons to cross the midline, thereby forming Probst bundles on the ipsilateral side. In contrast, loss of Ryk does not interfere with the ability of callosal axons to cross the midline but impedes their escape from the midline into the contralateral side. Therefore, Ryk(-/-) mice display a novel callosal guidance phenotype. We also show that Wnt5a acts as a chemorepulsive ligand for Ryk, driving callosal axons toward the contralateral hemisphere after crossing the midline. In addition, whereas callosal axons do cross the midline in Ryk(-/-) embryos, they are defasciculated on the ipsilateral side, indicating that Ryk also promotes fasciculation of axons before midline crossing. In summary, this study expands the emerging role for Wnts in axon guidance and identifies Ryk as a key guidance receptor in the establishment of the corpus callosum. Our analysis of Ryk function further advances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of this important commissure.

Chinese social location and ethnic newspaper exposure

No abstract

An examination of the relationship between social locations of Chinese immigrants and their ethnic newspaper dependency

This study drew upon media system dependency theory (MSD) and social identity theory to examine the relationship between social locations of Chinese immigrants and their dependency on Chinese ethnic newspapers. Data was obtained from a survey participated by 265 respondents with Chinese origin but currently residing in Australia. Results indicated that among the three indicators of social location, age appeared to be a strong positive predictor of the dependency on ethnic newspapers for information. Respondents who stayed longer in the host country tended to be more frequent readers of ethnic newspapers as well. Education did not appear as a significant predictor of ethnic newspaper dependency. These findings suggested the need for us to further investigate the impact of ethnic print media on ethnic minorities in the age of various information sources offered by new technologies.