Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is thought to be essential for learning and memory, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several disorders. Although recent studies have identified key factors regulating neuroprogenitor proliferation in the adult hippocampus, the mechanisms that control the migration and integration of adult-born neurons into circuits are largely unknown. Reelin is an e...

The processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) to Abeta is an important event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, but the physiological function of APP is not well understood. Our previous work has shown that APP processing and Abeta production are regulated by the extracellular matrix protein Reelin. In the present study, we examined whether Reelin interacts with APP, and the functi...

Reelin is a signaling protein increasingly associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease that relevantly modulates tau phosphorylation. We have previously demonstrated that β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) alters reelin expression. We have now attempted to determine whether abnormal reelin triggered by Aβ will result in signaling malfunction, contributing to the pathogenic process. Here, we sho...

Cerebellar Purkinje cells are generated in the ventricular zone, migrate outward, and finally form a monolayer in the cortex. In reeler mice, however, most Purkinje cells cluster abnormally in subcortical areas. Reelin, the candidate reeler gene product recognized by the CR-50 monoclonal antibody, is concentrated in a cortical zone along which Purkinje cells are aligned linearly, implying that ...

Homozygous, loss-of-function mutations in the mouse Reelin gene cause a severe neurological phenotype known as reeler. These mutant mice exhibit marked cerebellar hypoplasia, dyslamination of cortical and hippocampal cellular layers, and malposition of specific neuronal populations in the brain stem and spinal cord. Similarly, homozygous mutations in the very conserved human REELIN gene cause a...

The extracellular signaling protein Reelin, indispensable for proper neuronal migration and cortical layering during development, is also expressed in the adult brain where it modulates synaptic functions. It has been shown that proteolytic processing of Reelin decreases its signaling activity and promotes Reelin aggregation in vitro, and that proteolytic processing is affected in various neuro...

Reelin choreographs neuronal migration to establish laminar structures during brain formation. A recent paper uncovers a new function for Reelin signaling in specifying dendritic compartmentalization. Reelin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation is responsible for enrichment of ion channels in dendritic tufts.

Reelin is a large extracellular glycoprotein involved in the development of architectonic patterns, particularly in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, where it is synthesized primarily by Cajal-Retzius cells. In the hippocampus, Reelin also regulates the growth and/or distribution of afferent entorhinal and commissural axons. To assess further the possible action of Reelin on axonal growth, w...

Reelin signaling is essential for correct development of the mammalian brain. Reelin binds to apolipoprotein E receptor 2 and very low-density lipoprotein receptor and induces phosphorylation of Dab1. However, when and where these reactions occur is essentially unknown, and the primary function(s) of Reelin remain unclear. Here, we used alkaline phosphatase fusion of the receptor-binding region...

The gene mutated in reeler (reelin) encodes a protein secreted by neurons in the developing brain that controls laminar positioning of migrating cells in the CNS by an unknown mechanism. To investigate Reelin function, we used the nestin promoter to express Reelin ectopically in the ventricular zone and other brain regions in transgenic mice. In the presence of the endogenous protein, ectopic R...