Axonal pathfinding in the developing chick visual system.

During early embryonic development, axons grow with high accuracy to specific target areas, navigating along protein cues provided by the environment. A major goal of Dr. Halfter's laboratory was to identify the proteins that are involved in the early neurite outgrowth event. Because extracellular matrix proteins are likely to play a role in axonal migration, a detailed biochemical analysis of this class of molecules in the developing chick visual system was investigated. Other investigations in Dr. Halfter's laboratory involved tissue culture experiments and transplanta-tions in live embryos in order to identify the mechanisms underlying the orientation of growing nerve fibers