The development of strategies for reversing the debilitating effects of nerve injury
and disease currently hinges on a better understanding of mechanisms by which the
neural circuitry is established and maintained in the healthy animal.
At the cellular level, neurons form connections by extending axons and dendrites
(referred to collectively as neurites) from the cell body to appropriate innervation targets.
The leading tip of a growing neurite terminates in a flattened, motile structure called the
growth cone which resembles a motile cell both in morphology and dynamic activity. Neurite
extension proceeds along the path of growth cone movement; thus, the motile behavior of the
growth cone represents a primary factor in determining the ultimate pattern of neuronal
connections in the nervous system.
Resent publications*
Odde, D.J. and Buettner, H.M. (1995), Time Series Characterization of Simulated
Microtubule Dynamics in the Nerve Growth Cone, Ann. Biomed. Eng. 23: 268-286.
Buettner, H.M. (1995), Neuroengineering in Biological and Biosynthetic Systems,
Curr. Op. Biotechnology 6: 225-229.
Riley, M.R., Buettner, H.M., Muzzio, F.M., Reyes, S.C. (1995), Monte Carlo Simulation
of Diffusion and Reaction in Two-Dimensional Cell Structures, Biophys. J. 68: 1716-1726,
Buettner, H.M. (1994). Nerve Growth Dynamics: Quantitative Models for Nerve Development and
Regeneration, Ann. N.Y. Acad.Sci. 745: 210-221
Buettner, H.M. (1995). Computer Simulation of Nerve Growth Cone Filopodial Dynamics for
Visualization and Analysis, Cell Motil. Cytoskel., in press.
Odde, D.J. , Cassimeris, L., Buettner, H.M. (1995), Spectral Analysis of Microtubule
Assembly Dynamics, AIChE J, in press.
Odde, D.J. , Cassimeris, L., Buettner, H.M. (1995), Kinetics of Microtubule Catastrophe
Assessed by Probabilistic Analysis, Biophys. J., in press.
