Teneurins: a novel family of neuronal cell surface proteins in vertebrates, homologous to the Drosophila pair-rule gene product Ten-m.
We have characterized chicken teneurin-1 and teneurin-2, two homologues of the Drosophila pair-rule gene product Ten-m and Drosophila Ten-a. The high degree of conservation between the vertebrate and invertebrate proteins suggests that these belong to a novel family. We propose to name the vertebrate members of this family teneurins, because of their predominant expression in the nervous system. The expression of teneurin-1 and -2 was investigated by in situ hybridization. We show that teneurin-1 and -2 are expressed by distinct populations of neurons during the time of axonal growth. The most prominent site of expression of chicken teneurins is the developing visual system. Recombinant teneurin-2 was expressed to assay its molecular and functional properties. We show that it is a type II transmembrane protein, which can be released from the cell surface by proteolytic cleavage at a furin site. The expression of teneurin-2 in neuronal cells led to a significant increase in the number of filopodia and to the formation of enlarged growth cones. The expression pattern of teneurins in the developing nervous system and the ability of teneurin-2 to reorganize the cellular morphology indicate that these proteins may have an important function in the formation of neuronal connections.
Rubin
B P
BP
Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, CH-4002, Switzerland.
Tucker
R P
RP
Martin
D
D
Chiquet-Ehrismann
R
R
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002645:Chickens; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D020439:Growth Cones / Q000378:metabolism; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019063:Tenascin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
D030161:Avian Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C089140:Ten-m protein, Drosophila; D019063:Tenascin; C120530:teneurin-1; C402591:teneurin-2 protein, chicken