Ephrin A4 Explained

Ephrin A4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the EFNA4 gene.^{[1] [2]}

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. Three transcript variants that encode distinct proteins have been identified.

Further reading

• Flanagan JG, Vanderhaeghen P . The ephrins and Eph receptors in neural development . Annu. Rev. Neurosci. . 21 . 309–45 . 1998 . 9530499 . 10.1146/annurev.neuro.21.1.309 .
• Zhou R . The Eph family receptors and ligands . Pharmacol. Ther. . 77 . 3 . 151–81 . 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 . 1999 . 10.1242/dev.126.10.2033 . 10207129 .
• Book: 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 . Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. . 355 . 1399 . 993–1002 . 2001 . 11128993 . 10.1098/rstb.2000.0635 . 1692797 .
• Wilkinson DG . Multiple roles of EPH receptors and ephrins in neural development . Nat. Rev. Neurosci. . 2 . 3 . 155–64 . 2001 . 11256076 . 10.1038/35058515 . 205014301 .
• Kozlosky CJ, Maraskovsky E, McGrew JT . Ligands for the receptor tyrosine kinases hek and elk: isolation of cDNAs encoding a family of proteins . Oncogene . 10 . 2 . 299–306 . 1995 . 7838529 . etal.
• Gale NW, Holland SJ, Valenzuela DM . Eph receptors and ligands comprise two major specificity subclasses and are reciprocally compartmentalized during embryogenesis . Neuron . 17 . 1 . 9–19 . 1996 . 8755474 . 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80276-7 . 1075856 . etal. free .
• Ephnomenclaturecommittee. Unified nomenclature for Eph family receptors and their ligands, the ephrins. Eph Nomenclature Committee . Cell . 90 . 3 . 403–4 . 1997 . 9267020 . 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80500-0 . 26773768 . free .
• Janis LS, Cassidy RM, Kromer LF . Ephrin-A binding and EphA receptor expression delineate the matrix compartment of the striatum . J. Neurosci. . 19 . 12 . 4962–71 . 1999 . 10366629 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-12-04962.1999. free . 6782661 .
• Choi S, Jeong J, Kim T, Park S . Characterization of ephrin-A1 and ephrin-A4 as ligands for the EphA8 receptor protein tyrosine kinase . Mol. Cells . 9 . 4 . 440–5 . 2000 . 10.1016/S1016-8478(23)13566-7 . 10515610 . free .
• Aasheim HC, Munthe E, Funderud S . A splice variant of human ephrin-A4 encodes a soluble molecule that is secreted by activated human B lymphocytes . Blood . 95 . 1 . 221–30 . 2000 . 10607706 . 10.1182/blood.V95.1.221. etal.
• Munthe E, Aasheim HC . Characterization of the human ephrin-A4 promoter . Biochem. J. . 366 . Pt 2 . 447–58 . 2002 . 12030849 . 10.1042/BJ20011693 . 1222801 .

Notes and References

1. 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 . Jan 1997 . 8660976 . 10.1006/geno.1996.0192 .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: EFNA4 ephrin-A4.