The real role of reelin ttractants and repellents shunt neurons into their correct final location. But now Iris Hack, Harold Cremer (Université Mediterranée, Marseille, France), and colleagues have found evidence that reelin fits into neither of these categories. They propose, instead, that reelin converts cells that are migrating in association with each other into individual cells that can st...

Layering of neurons in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum requires Reelin, an extracellular matrix protein, and mammalian Disabled (mDab1), a cytosolic protein that activates tyrosine kinases. Here, we report the requirement for two other proteins, cell surface receptors termed very low density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2). Both receptors can bind mDab1 ...

During embryonic development of brain laminated structures, the protein Reelin, secreted into the extracellular matrix of the cortex and hippocampus by Cajal-Retzius (CR) cells located in the marginal zone, contributes to the regulation of migration and positioning of cortical and hippocampal neurons that do not synthesize Reelin. Soon after birth, the CR cells decrease, and they virtually disa...

RAS signalling through phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-Kinase) has been shown to have an essential role in tumour initiation and maintenance. RAS also regulates cell motility and tumour invasiveness, but the role of direct RAS binding to PI3-Kinase in this remains uncertain. Here, we provide evidence that disruption of RAS interaction with PI3-Kinase p110α decreases cell motility and prevents ac...

Reelin is a large secreted extracellular matrix glycoprotein playing an important role in early neurodevelopment. Several genetic studies found an association between RELN gene and increased risk of autism suggesting that reelin deficiency may be a vulnerability factor in its etiology. Moreover, a reduced reelin expression has been observed in several brain regions of subjects with Autism Spect...

We previously generated a monoclonal alloantibody, CR-50, by immunizing reeler mutant mice with homogenates of normal embryonic brains. This antibody recently was shown to recognize a Reelin protein, which is coded by the recently identified candidate gene for the reeler mutation. However, it is still unclear whether Reelin, especially the CR-50 epitope region, is indeed responsible for the ree...