Normal Patterns of Spontaneous Activity Are Required for Correct Motor Axon Guidance and the Expression of Specific Guidance Molecules

Rhythmic spontaneous electrical activity occurs in many parts of the developing nervous system, where it plays essential roles in the refinement of neural connections. By blocking or slowing this bursting activity, via in ovo drug applications at precise developmental periods, we show that such activity is also required at much earlier stages for spinal motoneurons to accurately execute their first major dorsal-ventral pathfinding decision. Blockade or slowing of rhythmic bursting activity also prevents the normal expression patterns of EphA4 and polysialic acid on NCAM, which may contribute to the pathfinding errors observed. More prolonged (E2–5) blockade resulted in a downregulation of LIM homeodomain transcription factors, but since this occurred only after the pathfinding errors and alterations in guidance molecules, it cannot have contributed to them.