title: Neogenin may functionally substitute for Dcc in chicken.
abstract: Dcc is the key receptor that mediates attractive responses of axonal growth cones to netrins, a family of axon guidance cues used throughout evolution. However, a Dcc homolog has not yet been identified in the chicken genome, raising the possibility that Dcc is not present in avians. Here we show that the closely related family member neogenin may functionally substitute for Dcc in the developing chicken spinal cord. The expression pattern of chicken neogenin in the developing spinal cord is a composite of the distribution patterns of both rodent Dcc and neogenin. Moreover, whereas the loss of mouse neogenin has no effect on the trajectory of commissural axons, removing chicken neogenin by RNA interference results in a phenotype similar to the functional inactivation of Dcc in mouse. Taken together, these data suggest that the chick neogenin is functionally equivalent to rodent Dcc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Keith Dai
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: Louis-Philippe
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Croteau
authors.forename: Joseph Wai Keung
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kam
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kania
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cloutier
authors.forename: Samantha Joanna
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Butler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D000075389:DCC Receptor; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D034622:RNA Interference; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000075389:DCC Receptor; C501910:Dcc protein, mouse; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C091279:neogenin