Contribution of NADPH oxidase to the establishment of hippocampal neuronal polarity in culture.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by the NADPH oxidase (NOX) complex play important physiological and pathological roles in neurotransmission and neurodegeneration, respectively. However, the contribution of ROS to the molecular mechanisms involved in neuronal polarity and axon elongation is not well understood. In this work, we found that loss of NOX complex function altered neuronal polarization and decreased axonal length by a mechanism that involves actin cytoskeleton dynamics. These results indicate that physiological levels of ROS produced by the NOX complex modulate hippocampal neuronal polarity and axonal growth in vitro.