The semaphorins are the products of a large family of genes currently containing more than 30 members. These genes are divided into eight classes of which classes 1, 2 and 8 contain invertebrate and viral semaphorins, while classes 3-7 contain the vertebrate semaphorins. The semaphorins have been implicated in diverse developmental processes such as axon guidance during nervous system developme...

Growth cone collapse occurs in repulsive axon guidance and is accompanied by a reduction in the surface area of the plasma membrane of growth cones. However, the mechanism of this reduction is unclear. Here, we show that during growth cone collapse, caffeine-induced Ca(2+) release from ryanodine-sensitive Ca(2+) stores triggers the formation of large vacuoles in growth cones by macropinocytosis...

Glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 is a serine/threonine kinase that has been implicated in several aspects in embryonic development and several growth factor signaling cascades. We now report that an inactive phosphorylated pool of the enzyme colocalizes with F-actin in both neuronal and nonneuronal cells. Semaphorin 3A (Sema 3A), a molecule that inhibits axonal growth, activates GSK-3 at the le...

It is largely established that molecules first discovered in the nervous system are also found in the immune system. Neuropilin-1 (NP-1) was initially identified to mediate semaphorin-induced chemorepulsion during brain development and is also involved in peripheral T cell/dendritic cell interactions. Herein, we studied NP-1 during T cell development in the human thymus. NP-1 is expressed in bo...

Kidney diseases are worldwide public health problems affecting millions of people. However, there still limited therapeutic options against kidney diseases. Semaphorin 3A (SEMA3A) is a secreted and membrane-associated protein, which regulates diverse functions, including immune regulation, cell survival, migration angiogenesis, thus involving in the several pathogeneses diseases, eyes neurons, ...