Neuropilins as signaling hubs, controlling tyrosine kinases and other cell surface receptors

Abstract

Neuropilin-1 and neuropilin-2 form a small family of transmembrane molecules found in vertebrates. In addition to their established function as cell surface co-receptors for semaphorins and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), in association with plexins and VEGF receptors, neuropilins have been found to interact with many other transmembrane receptor molecules (such as EGFR, Met, IGF1-R and PDGF-R tyrosine kinases, TGFb receptor, Hedgehog, integrins, etc.) and elicit a range of intracellular signaling cascades. Thus neuropilins appear to act as signaling hubs on the cell surface, contributing to diverse