Ephrins off the beaten path

TL;DRAbstract

<p>The Orchestration of cell-cell interactions is crucial to the developing embryo and the adult organism. Intercellular communication is to a large extent controlled by signalling events downstream of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Ligands for RTKs are often soluble and confer long distance information to the receptor expressing cell. In contrast to this the Eph receptor tyrosine kinases bind membrane attached ligands, denominated ephrins, expressed in neighbouring cells. The main cellular response to Eph-ephrin signalling investigated so far has been repulsion of the receptor expressing cell. The establishment of topographic maps in the developing visual system as well as boundary formation in hindbrain rhombomeres are examples of this repulsive action. Recent research, however, has revealed a greater variety of non-repulsive outcomes of Eph signalling influencing such diverse processes as neural tube closure, synaptic plasticity and adult stem cell proliferation. The expres

Chat with Paper

AI Agents for this Paper