Feedback-mediated neuronal competition for survival cues regulates innervation of a target tissue.

ABSTRACT

Proper wiring of the nervous system requires tight control of the number of nerve terminals that innervate a target tissue. Recent work by Deppmann et al., now suggests that this is achieved by feedback-mediated neuronal competition for target-derived survival cues. The authors' model is inspired by the theory for pattern formation based on self-activation and lateral inhibition, proposed by Meinhardt and Gierer more than 30 years ago.