Optic nerve formation

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541629.010

8 - Optic nerve formation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 August 2009

Edited by

Bill Harris and

David W. Sretavan: Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
Evelyne Sernagor: Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Stephen Eglen: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Bill Harris: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Rachel Wong: Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis

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Summary

Introduction

The optic nerve is the anatomical pathway through which visual information received in the retina is conveyed along the axons of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to central visual targets for processing. In terms of its cellular organization, the optic nerve is relatively simple compared with other white matter tracts in the CNS. Unlike most CNS axon pathways, which typically contain ascending and descending axons from multiple neuronal populations, axons within the optic nerve all originate from RGCs in the eye, and all project in the same direction away from the retina towards the brain. There are no neurons in the optic nerve, and all resident cell nuclei belong to optic nerve glial cells. Given these organizational features, the developing optic nerve is an attractive experimental system and, not surprisingly, has been widely used in studies of axon guidance, glial differentiation, glial migration and myelination. Similarly, the adult optic nerve has also served extremely well as a model for studies of axonal transport and axon regeneration. This chapter describes the developmental mechanisms governing major aspects of optic nerve formation such as the determination of optic stalk cell fate, axon guidance and glia migration. The aim is to highlight our current understanding of these developmental processes, which at a basic level are fundamental to development of all regions of the nervous system.

Phases of optic nerve development

In considering optic nerve development, it is useful to conceptually divide the process into three phases.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Retinal Development , pp. 150 - 171

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541629.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2006

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