retrograde signaling

In many regions of the nervous system, signals produced by target cells and surrounding glia or in response to injury are received at axon terminals and then retrogradely propagated to cell bodies where they regulate gene transcription and other cellular processes required for development and adult function.

The cellular and molecular mechanisms of axonal retrograde signaling in neurons have traditionally been studied in the context of survival signals provided by target-derived neurotrophic factors, in which signaling endosomes containing endocytosed ligand-receptor complexes and downstream effectors are retrogradely transported by dynein motors.

References

 Ibáñez CF. Message in a bottle: long-range retrograde signaling in the nervous system. Trends Cell Biol. 2007 Oct 26; PMID: 18029183