A Floor-Plate Extracellular Protein-Protein Interaction Screen Identifies Draxin as a Secreted Netrin-1 Antagonist

作者：Gao Xuefan^*; Metzger Ute; Panza Paolo; Mahalwar Prateek; Alsheimer Soeren; Geiger Horst; Maischein Hans Martin; Levesque Mitchell P; Templin Markus; Soellner Christian

来源：Cell Reports, 2015, 12(4): 694-708.

DOI：10.1016/j.celrep.2015.06.047

Floor-plate-derived extracellular signaling molecules, including canonical axon guidance cues of the Netrin family, control neuronal circuit organization. Despite the importance of the floor plate as an essential signaling center in the developing vertebrate central nervous system, no systematic approach to identify binding partners for floor-plate-expressed cell-surface and secreted proteins has been carried out. Here, we used a high-throughput assay to discover extracellular protein-protein interactions, which likely take place in the zebrafish floor-plate microenvironment. The assembled floor-plate network contains 47 interactions including the hitherto-not-reported interaction between Netrin-1 and Draxin. We further characterized this interaction, narrowed down the binding interface, and demonstrated that Draxin competes with Netrin receptors for binding to Netrin-1. Our results suggest that Draxin functions as an extracellular Netrin signaling modulator in vertebrates. A reciprocal gradient of Draxin might shape or sharpen the active Netrin gradient, thereby critically modulating its effect.

• 出版日期2015-7-28