Figure 8. Retractive Behavior of Growth Cones Observed Following Zipcode Antisense Treatment

Starved neurons were either treated with antisense oligonucleotides to the ß-actin zipcode or control oligonucleotides and then were stimulated with NT-3 for 1 hr. Forward movements were observed in control-treated growth cones, whereas antisense-treated growth cones exhibited retractive behavior.

(A) Mean growth cone displacements (error bars indicate standard deviation, n = 4). Antisense-treated growth cones retracted at an average rate of -0.31 µm/min., whereas control growth cones moved forward at an average rate of 0.17 µm/min.

(B) Individual growth cone displacements from (A) over time for antisense-treated cells (violet) and control cells (magenta).

(C–F) Overlap illustrating the growth cone retraction from antisense-treated (C and D) or extension from control oligonucleotide-treated (E and F) cells (green = initial point, red = final point). The key in the upper right of each panel identifies each cell in (B). The initial and final time points for each frame are indicated by the triangles in (B). (See also Movie 2 and Movie 3 as supplemental data.).