The crystal structures of the intracellular part of the plexin receptor in the active dimer form, and its complex with a key downstream signalling protein Rap, provide insights into how plexin initiates a signalling cascade involved in axon guidance.
Plexin controls the spatial distribution of synapses by locally inhibiting Rap2 small GTPase activity along the axon, and a Rap2 effector, TNIK, which also plays a key role in inhibiting synapse number.
Zebrafish mutants and human endothelial cell experiments reveal that GIPC family endocytic adaptors bind to the Semaphorin receptor PLEXIND1, a critical regulator of vascular development, to negatively modulate its signaling.
Systematic in vivo analysis reveals the divergent engagement of Plexin B structural motifs in distinct neurodevelopmental processes and a regulatory role of convertase cleavage in Plexin B signaling.
3D imaging and time-lapse video-microscopy show that the PlexinB2 receptor controls the tempo of granule cell differentiation and sets the pace of their migration in mouse cerebellum.
PlexB plays a multifaceted role in instructing the assembly of the Drosophila olfactory circuit through temporally-regulated expression patterns and expression level-dependent effects.
A combination of in vivo models and imaging techniques reveals the distribution of guidance cues and their mechanisms of action during commissural axon navigation of intermediate target.
Mice that lack the autism susceptibility gene Semaphorin 5A show excess excitatory synapse formation in dentate granule neurons and also altered social behavior, adding to evidence that a surplus of synapses contributes to the behavioral changes observed in autism spectrum disorders.
