title: Bidirectional Eph-ephrin signaling during axon guidance.
abstract: Ephrins are cell-surface tethered guidance cues that bind to Eph receptor tyrosine kinases in trans on opposing cells. In the developing nervous system, the Eph-ephrin signaling system controls a large variety of cellular responses including contact-mediated attraction or repulsion, adhesion or de-adhesion, and migration. Eph-ephrin signaling can be bidirectional, and is subject to modulation by ectodomain cleavage of ephrins and by Eph-ephrin endocytosis. Recent work has highlighted the importance of higher-order clustering of functional Eph-ephrin complexes and the requirement for Rho GTPases as signal transducers. Co-expression of Ephs and ephrins within the same cellular membrane can result in Eph-ephrin cis interaction or in lateral segregation into distinct domains from where they signal opposing effects on the axon.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute of Neurobiology, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany. jegea@neuro.mpg.de <jegea@neuro.mpg.de>
authors.forename: Joaquim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Egea
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D004705:Endocytosis; D036342:Ephrins / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D036342:Ephrins; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins