{
  "abstract": "Neurons acquire polarity by specifying one neurite as the axon, whereas the others become dendrites. But how this fundamental asymmetry is established remains unclear 1 . Neuronal polarization has been thought to rely primarily on growth cones that sense external cues 2 . Here we show that growth cones alone do not direct this process and that the soma acts as a central organizer of neuronal polarization. Using live imaging and genetic loss-of-function approaches in vivo, combined with optogenetic control and local cytoskeletal perturbations in cultured neurons, we uncover a soma-initiated oscillatory program that primes axon selection. Periodic actin branching that depends on the actin-related protein 2/3 (ARP2/3) complex at the soma remodels a global actomyosin network, thereby generating an actin wave that retracts neurites before propagating into a single neurite tip. Exposure to this wave relaxes local actomyosin contractility, which drives a transient microtubule-based protrusion and biases this neurite towards axon fate. As the cell exits this oscillatory stage, this neurite can overcome global inhibition and extend independently of ARP2/3, whereas actomyosin activity suppresses axon formation in the remaining neurites so that they subsequently become dendrites. This soma-driven mechanism ensures the emergence of a single axon independent of environmental cues and underpins the unidirectional information flow in neuronal circuits.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Laboratory for Axon Growth and Regeneration, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany",
    "Biopharm Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, UK",
    "Department of Integrated Structural Biology, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Illkirch, France",
    "Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg, Austria",
    "International Max Planck Research School for Brain and Behavior, Bonn, Germany",
    "Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan",
    "CaseBioscience, Woodbury, MN, USA",
    "Image and Data Analysis Facility, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany",
    "International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, and Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada",
    "Department of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany",
    "Laboratory for Axon Growth and Regeneration, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany. frank.bradke@dzne.de"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 17,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tien-chen Lin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6852-2900"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        0
      ],
      "name": "Charlotte H. Coles",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4525-7144"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Eissa Alfadil",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4160-9352"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Florian Fäßler",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7149-769X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Andreas Husch",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1966-5227"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sebastián Dupraz",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4557-2611"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        0
      ],
      "name": "Thorben Pietralla"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Akihiro Narita",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1504-9352"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        0
      ],
      "name": "Max Schelski",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8189-6686"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        0
      ],
      "name": "Kevin C. Flynn"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sina Stern"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Christoph Möhl",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0829-5101"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Brett J. Hilton",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2813-2294"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Franz Vauti",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0275-1433"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Arnold Hh"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Florian K. M. Schur",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4790-8078"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Frank Bradke",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0345-3772"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7nsms8ts53k0q.bib",
  "cited_by": 5,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41586-026-10755-6",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "7nsms8ts53k0q",
  "issns": [
    "0028-0836",
    "1476-4687"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10755-6",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2804|Axon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W7167667301",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13538037",
  "pmid": "42420447",
  "published": "2026-07-08",
  "publisher": "Nature Portfolio",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7nsms8ts53k0q.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T13:20:36Z",
      "native_id": "W7167667301",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10755-6"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2804|Axon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "An intrinsic cytoskeletal oscillator establishes neuronal polarity",
  "title_text": "An intrinsic cytoskeletal oscillator establishes neuronal polarity",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T13:20:49Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7nsms8ts53k0q",
  "venue": "Nature",
  "versions": []
}