Dendrites often have an elaborate branched morphology important for receiving information from other cells or the environment. Recently, RNA-binding proteins have been implicated in the regulation of dendrite development. Antonacci et al. performed a candidate genetic screen for RNA-binding proteins that regulate dendrite morphogenesis in the multidendritic PVD sensory neuron (green) in Caenorhabditis elegans. The authors identify 12 genes that code for RNA-binding proteins important for dendrite development. Importantly, orthologs of these proteins have previously been implicated in dendrite development in Drosophila, and human orthologs are expressed in the brain, suggesting that they may regulate dendrites in humans as well. Image credit: Eugenia Olesnicky.

Cristy Gelling is a science writer, lapsed yeast geneticist, and former Communications Director at the GSA.

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