Cell adhesion receptors in C. elegans

Integrins and other families of cell adhesion receptors are responsible for platelet adhesion and aggregation, which are essential steps for physiological haemostasis, as well as for the development of thrombosis. The modulation of platelet adhesive properties is the result of a complex pattern of inside-out and outside-in signaling pathways, in which the members of the Rap family of small GTPases are bidirectionally involved. This paper focuses on the regulation of the main Rap GTPase expressed in circulating platelets, Rap1b, downstream of adhesion receptors, and summarizes the most recent achievements in the investigation of the function of this protein as regulator of platelet adhesion and thrombus formation.

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Predicting cell adhesion receptors using protein sequence index

Open Access Bioinformatics ◽

10.2147/oab.s17492 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 97 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhijun Wang ◽

Xu Chunyan ◽

Yu Feng ◽

Lin Tang ◽

Jianhua He ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Adhesion ◽

Protein Sequence ◽

Adhesion Receptors

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Heparan sulfate molecules mediate synapse formation and function of male mating neural circuits in C. elegans

10.1101/277137 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

María I. Lázaro-Peña ◽

Carlos A. Díaz-Balzac ◽

Hannes E. Bülow ◽

Scott W. Emmons

Keyword(s):

Nervous System ◽

Cell Adhesion ◽

Neural Cell ◽

Male Mating ◽

Synaptic Connections ◽

Adhesion Protein ◽

C Elegans ◽

Neural Cell Adhesion ◽

Heparan Sulfates ◽

And Function

AbstractThe nervous system regulates complex behaviors through a network of neurons interconnected by synapses. How specific synaptic connections are genetically determined is still unclear. Male mating is the most complex behavior in C. elegans. It is composed of sequential steps that are governed by more than 3,000 chemical connections. Here we show that heparan sulfates (HS) play a role in the formation and function of the male neural network. Cell-autonomous and non-autonomous 3-O sulfation by the HS modification enzyme HST-3.1/HS 3-O-sulfotransferase, localized to the HSPG glypicans LON-2/glypican and GPN-1/glypican, was specifically required for response to hermaphrodite contact during mating. Loss of 3-O sulfation resulted in the presynaptic accumulation of RAB-3, a molecule that localizes to synaptic vesicles, disrupting the formation of synapses in a component of the mating circuits. We also show that neural cell adhesion protein neurexin promotes and neural cell adhesion protein neuroligin inhibits formation of the same set of synapses in a parallel pathway. Thus, neural cell adhesion proteins and extracellular matrix components act together in the formation of synaptic connections.Author SummaryThe formation of the nervous system requires the function of several genetically-encoded proteins to form complex networks. Enzymatically-generated modifications of these proteins play a crucial role during this process. These authors analyzed the role of heparan sulfates in the process of synaptogenesis in the male tail of C. elegans. A modification of heparan sulfate is required for the formation of specific synapses between neurons by acting cell-autonomously and non-autonomously. Could it be that heparan sulfates and their diverse modifications are a component of the specification factor that neurons use to make such large numbers of connections unique?

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Cell Adhesion Receptors

Encyclopedia of Cancer ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_991 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 732-732

Keyword(s):

Cell Adhesion ◽

Adhesion Receptors

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Differential expression of R- and N-cadherin in neural and mesodermal tissues during early chicken development

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.113.3.959 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 113 (3) ◽

pp. 959-967 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

H. Inuzuka ◽

C. Redies ◽

M. Takeichi

Keyword(s):

Cell Adhesion ◽

Differential Expression ◽

Neural Tube ◽

Immunoblot Analysis ◽

Spatial Segregation ◽

Differentially Expressed ◽

Adhesion Receptors ◽

Chicken Embryos ◽

Neural Tissues ◽

Chicken Development

R-cadherin is a newly identified member of the cadherin family of cell adhesion receptors. The expression of R-cadherin in early chicken embryos was studied using affinity-purified antibodies to this molecule, comparing it with that of N-cadherin. Immunoblot analysis of various organs of 10.5-day embryos showed that R-cadherin is most abundantly expressed in the retina and brain. Immunostaining of the cervical and thoracic regions of embryos revealed that R- and N-cadherin are expressed in all neural tissues. In the neural tube, R-cadherin appears at around stage 21, although N-cadherin expression begins at a much earlier stage. The distribution of R-cadherin in the neural tube differs from that of N-cadherin; for example, some regions of the tube express only R-cadherin, and other regions only N-cadherin. In the peripheral ganglia, these two cadherins are also expressed in different patterns which change during development. Some mesenchymal tissues including the notochord, the myotome, myotubes and perichondria also express these cadherins, again in different patterns. Thus, R- and N-cadherin are differentially expressed in all the tissues examined, and they may contribute to the spatial segregation of heterogeneous cells in a tissue.

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