Lynn Landmesser (1943-2024): A pioneer in developmental neurobiology

• 成果类型: Editorial Material
• 署名作者: Landis, Story; Sanes, Joshua R.
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-15268
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2509313122
• 发表日期: 2025-05-28
• 关键词: motoneuron projection patterns; polysialic acid; chick; activation

摘要

Lynn Landmesser, whose studies transformed our view of how neurons find the proper partners on which to form synapses, died at the age of 80 in November 2024. Using elegant electrophysiological methods, she showed that specificity is apparent from the earliest times that connections are established in both autonomic and motor systems. Her work overturned the idea that synaptic connectivity arises bygradual refinement of initially nonspecific patterns and thereby laid the groundwork for molecular analysis of the factors that guide axons to and connect them with their targets.