IMR Press / FBL / Volume 13 / Issue 11 / DOI: 10.2741/3008

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Neuropilins: a versatile partner of extracellular molecules that regulate development and disease
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1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2008, 13(11), 4339–4360; https://doi.org/10.2741/3008
Published: 1 May 2008
Abstract

Neuropilins are a vertebrate-specific family of membrane multidomain proteins. They are crucial for the embryonic development of neural and vascular systems, whereas in the adult organism they are implicated in many processes, such as angiogenesis and the immune response. Additionally, it has been shown that they are overexpressed in numerous types of tumours, which results in higher microvessel density and correlates with poor prognosis. Their functions have been linked to their binding partners: semaphorins/collapsins, vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor and heparin/heparan sulfate (HS). Multiplicity of ligands alongside complex formation with several membrane receptors makes neuropilins potential 'hub' proteins, which act as a scaffold for multimeric associations. This review focuses on the structural features of neuropilins that underpin their multiple molecular interactions and hence their functions.

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