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General Comment |
Operational redundancy in axon guidance through the multifunctional receptor Robo3 and its ligand NELL2. Jaworski A et al. (2016) Axon pathfinding is orchestrated by numerous guidance cues, including Slits and their Robo receptors, but it remains unclear how information from multiple cues is integrated or filtered. Robo3, a Robo family member, allows commissural axons to reach and cross the spinal cord midline by antagonizing Robo1/2-mediated repulsion from midline-expressed Slits and potentiating deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC)-mediated midline attraction to Netrin-1, but without binding either Slits or Netrins. We identified a secreted Robo3 ligand, neural epidermal growth factor-like-like 2 (NELL2), which repels mouse commissural axons through Robo3 and helps steer them to the midline. These findings identify NELL2 as an axon guidance cue and establish Robo3 as a multifunctional regulator of pathfinding that simultaneously mediates NELL2 repulsion, inhibits Slit repulsion, and facilitates Netrin attraction to achieve a common guidance purpose. //////////////////NELL2-mediated lumicrine signaling through OVCH2 is required for male fertility. Science 2020
NCBI Summary:
The protein encoded by this gene is a glycoprotein containing several von Willebrand factor C domains and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains. The encoded protein acts as a homotrimer and is found in the cytoplasm. Several variants encoding a few different isoforms exist, and at least one isoform appears to be a secreted protein. Studies in mouse suggest that this protein plays a role in neural cell growth and differentiation as well as in oncogenesis. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2009]
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