title: The Ret receptor regulates sensory neuron dendrite growth and integrin mediated adhesion.
abstract: Neurons develop highly stereotyped receptive fields by coordinated growth of their dendrites. Although cell surface cues play a major role in this process, few dendrite specific signals have been identified to date. We conducted an in vivo RNAi screen in Drosophila class IV dendritic arborization (C4da) neurons and identified the conserved Ret receptor, known to play a role in axon guidance, as an important regulator of dendrite development. The loss of Ret results in severe dendrite defects due to loss of extracellular matrix adhesion, thus impairing growth within a 2D plane. We provide evidence that Ret interacts with integrins to regulate dendrite adhesion via rac1. In addition, Ret is required for dendrite stability and normal F-actin distribution suggesting it has an essential role in dendrite maintenance. We propose novel functions for Ret as a regulator in dendrite patterning and adhesion distinct from its role in axon guidance.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Neurobiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Soba
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Gut Signalling and Metabolism Group, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perea
authors.affiliation: Gut Signalling and Metabolism Group, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miguel-Aliaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
authors.forename: Lily Yeh
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
authors.forename: Yuh Nung
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Jan
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000378:metabolism*; D034622:RNA Interference; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D016023:Integrins; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; C416649:Ret protein, Drosophila; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein
keywords: D. melanogaster; cell adhesion; cell-matrix interactions; dendrite development; extracellular matrix; neuroscience; patterning; receptors