%0 Journal Article %A Maureen L. Ruchhoeft %A Shin-ichi Ohnuma %A Lisa McNeill %A Christine E. Holt %A William A. Harris %T The Neuronal Architecture of Xenopus Retinal Ganglion Cells Is Sculpted by Rho-Family GTPases In Vivo %D 1999 %R 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-19-08454.1999 %J The Journal of Neuroscience %P 8454-8463 %V 19 %N 19 %X Dendritogenesis, axonogenesis, pathfinding, and target recognition are all affected in distinct ways when Xenopus retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are transfected with constitutively active (ca), wild-type (wt), and dominant negative (dn) Rho-family GTPases in vivo. Dendritogenesis required Rac1 and Cdc42 activity. Moreover, ca-Rac1 caused dendrite hyperproliferation. Axonogenesis, in contrast, was inhibited by ca-Rac1. This phenotype was partially rescued by the coexpression of dn cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk5), a proposed effector of Rac1, suggesting that Rac1 activity must be regulated tightly for normal axonogenesis. Growth cone morphology was particularly sensitive to dn-RhoA and wt-Cdc42 constructs. These also caused targeting errors, such as tectal bypass, suggesting that cytoskeletal rearrangements are involved in target recognition and are transduced by these pathways. %U https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/19/19/8454.full.pdf