title: [Molecular mechanism of axon guidance].
abstract: The functioning of the vertebrate brain depends on the differentiation and positioning of the neural cells, and on the specific connections these cells make among themselves and their peripheral targets. Semaphorin3A (Sema3A), a secreted type of guidance cue of the semaphorin family, possesses a strong repulsive activity to a subset of neurons such as dorsal root ganglia and sympathetic neurons. CRMP (collapsin response mediator protein) was originally identified as an intracellular mediator of Sema3A by using Xenopus laevis oocyte expression system, but its mechanism has long been ill-defined. We demonstrate that Fyn-Cdk5 complex acts as a downstream mediator of Sema3A signaling cascades that induce growth cone collapse. In addition, the sequential phosphorylation of CRMP2 by Cdk5 and GSK3beta is an important process of Sema3A signaling. Since the dual-phosphorylated CRMP2 is recognized with the antibody 3F4, a highly reactive antibody with the neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease, the same mechanism for Sema3A signaling may have some relevance to the pathological aggregation of the microtubule-associated proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Neurobiology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan. goshima@med.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goshima
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 / Q000502:physiology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051076:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fyn / Q000502:physiology; D040121:Semaphorin-3A / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D040121:Semaphorin-3A; C095114:collapsin response mediator protein-2; D051076:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fyn; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5