Ephrin A1 Explained

Ephrin A1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the EFNA1 gene.^{[1] [2] [3]}

This gene encodes a member of the ephrin (EPH) family. The ephrins and EPH-related receptors comprise the largest subfamily of receptor protein-tyrosine kinases and have been implicated in mediating developmental events, especially in the nervous system and in erythropoiesis. Based on their structures and sequence relationships, ephrins are divided into the ephrin-A (EFNA) class, which are anchored to the membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage, and the ephrin-B (EFNB) class, which are transmembrane proteins. This gene encodes an EFNA class ephrin which binds to the EPHA2, EPHA4, EPHA5, EPHA6, and EPHA7 receptors. Two transcript variants that encode different isoforms were identified through sequence analysis.^[4]

Further reading

• Pandey A, Lindberg RA, Dixit VM . Cell signalling. Receptor orphans find a family . Current Biology . 5 . 9 . 986–9 . Sep 1995 . 8542290 . 10.1016/S0960-9822(95)00195-3 . 13338632 . free . 1995CBio....5..986P .
• Flanagan JG, Vanderhaeghen P . The ephrins and Eph receptors in neural development . Annual Review of Neuroscience . 21 . 309–45 . 1998 . 9530499 . 10.1146/annurev.neuro.21.1.309 .
• Zhou R . The Eph family receptors and ligands . Pharmacology & Therapeutics . 77 . 3 . 151–81 . Mar 1998 . 9576626 . 10.1016/S0163-7258(97)00112-5 .
• Holder N, Klein R . Eph receptors and ephrins: effectors of morphogenesis . Development . 126 . 10 . 2033–44 . May 1999 . 10.1242/dev.126.10.2033 . 10207129 .
• Wilkinson DG . Eph receptors and ephrins: regulators of guidance and assembly . International Review of Cytology . 196 . 177–244 . 2000 . 10730216 . 10.1016/S0074-7696(00)96005-4 . 978-0-12-364600-2 .
• Xu Q, Mellitzer G, Wilkinson DG . Roles of Eph receptors and ephrins in segmental patterning . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences . 355 . 1399 . 993–1002 . Jul 2000 . 11128993 . 1692797 . 10.1098/rstb.2000.0635 .
• Wilkinson DG . Multiple roles of EPH receptors and ephrins in neural development . Nature Reviews. Neuroscience . 2 . 3 . 155–64 . Mar 2001 . 11256076 . 10.1038/35058515 . 205014301 .
• Mahadevan D, Thanki N, Singh J, McPhie P, Zangrilli D, Wang LM, Guerrero C, LeVine H, Humblet C, Saldanha J . Structural studies on the PH domains of Db1, Sos1, IRS-1, and beta ARK1 and their differential binding to G beta gamma subunits . Biochemistry . 34 . 28 . 9111–7 . Jul 1995 . 7619809 . 10.1021/bi00028a021 .
• Kozlosky CJ, Maraskovsky E, McGrew JT, VandenBos T, Teepe M, Lyman SD, Srinivasan S, Fletcher FA, Gayle RB, Cerretti DP . Ligands for the receptor tyrosine kinases hek and elk: isolation of cDNAs encoding a family of proteins . Oncogene . 10 . 2 . 299–306 . Jan 1995 . 7838529 .
• Davis S, Gale NW, Aldrich TH, Maisonpierre PC, Lhotak V, Pawson T, Goldfarb M, Yancopoulos GD . Ligands for EPH-related receptor tyrosine kinases that require membrane attachment or clustering for activity . Science . 266 . 5186 . 816–9 . Nov 1994 . 7973638 . 10.1126/science.7973638 . 1994Sci...266..816D .
• Beckmann MP, Cerretti DP, Baum P, Vanden Bos T, James L, Farrah T, Kozlosky C, Hollingsworth T, Shilling H, Maraskovsky E . Molecular characterization of a family of ligands for eph-related tyrosine kinase receptors . The EMBO Journal . 13 . 16 . 3757–62 . Aug 1994 . 8070404 . 395287 . 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06685.x.
• Gale NW, Holland SJ, Valenzuela DM, Flenniken A, Pan L, Ryan TE, Henkemeyer M, Strebhardt K, Hirai H, Wilkinson DG, Pawson T, Davis S, Yancopoulos GD . Eph receptors and ligands comprise two major specificity subclasses and are reciprocally compartmentalized during embryogenesis . Neuron . 17 . 1 . 9–19 . Jul 1996 . 8755474 . 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80276-7 . 1075856 . free .
• Ephnomenclaturecommittee . Unified nomenclature for Eph family receptors and their ligands, the ephrins. Eph Nomenclature Committee . Cell . 90 . 3 . 403–4 . Aug 1997 . 9267020 . 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80500-0 . 26773768 . free .
• Nagel W, Schilcher P, Zeitlmann L, Kolanus W . The PH domain and the polybasic c domain of cytohesin-1 cooperate specifically in plasma membrane association and cellular function . Molecular Biology of the Cell . 9 . 8 . 1981–94 . Aug 1998 . 9693361 . 25450 . 10.1091/mbc.9.8.1981 .

Notes and References

1. Holzman LB, Marks RM, Dixit VM . A novel immediate-early response gene of endothelium is induced by cytokines and encodes a secreted protein . Molecular and Cellular Biology . 10 . 11 . 5830–8 . Nov 1990 . 2233719 . 361366 . 10.1128/mcb.10.11.5830.
2. Cerretti DP, Lyman SD, Kozlosky CJ, Copeland NG, Gilbert DJ, Jenkins NA, Valentine V, Kirstein MN, Shapiro DN, Morris SW . The genes encoding the eph-related receptor tyrosine kinase ligands LERK-1 (EPLG1, Epl1), LERK-3 (EPLG3, Epl3), and LERK-4 (EPLG4, Epl4) are clustered on human chromosome 1 and mouse chromosome 3 . Genomics . 33 . 2 . 277–82 . Apr 1996 . 8660976 . 10.1006/geno.1996.0192 .
3. Web site: Entrez Gene: EFNA1 ephrin-A1.
4. Web site: Entrez Gene: EFNA1 ephrin-A1.