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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2002/7/194-a $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 158, Number 2, July 22, 2002 194-a-194

Nervous chemokines

SDF-1 (red) attracts cells toward the meninges. Rao/Macmillan

Guidance molecules from the immune and nervous systems are getting mixed up in each others business. Yan Zhu, Yi Rao (Washington University, St. Louis, MO), and colleagues have found that a leukocyte attractant called stromal-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) is the main factor that entices embryonic cerebellar neurons to their correct location.

SDF-1 is a chemokine—a peptide that attracts leukocytes by activating a G protein signaling cascade. In contrast, neuronal guidance molecules such as the netrins, ephrins, and Slit are proteins that bind single transmembrane receptors linked to a variety of downstream signaling pathways. The two worlds were bridged last year when Rao found that the neuronal repellant Slit could also inhibit leukocyte chemotaxis. Now, he has completed the loop by confirming SDF-1's function in the brain.

This function was suspected when immunologists made mice lacking SDF-1 and noted a cerebellar defect, whereas others showed that SDF-1 affected either chemotaxis or the motility level of neurons. In Rao's experiments, collagen blocks embedded with SDF-1 attracted embryonic neuronal precursor cells, and the meninges (the outside lining of the brain) attracted the cells only if the gene encoding SDF-1 had not been knocked out. The meninges thus uses SDF-1 to attract the cells before they go on to form structures involved in motor control and other functions.

The two worlds of chemokines and neuronal guidance may have arisen, says Rao, because "if your assay is set up in a particular way, you get what you are looking for." But now he thinks that factor participation in both immune and nervous systems will turn out to be "a common thing." The next place to look may be in blood vessels. Slit is expressed in the endothelium, so it may keep noninflammatory immune cells from escaping the blood.

Reference:

Zhu, Y., et al. 2002. Nat. Neurosci. 10.1038/nn881.

William A. Wells

wellsw{at}rockefeller.edu

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This Article Full Text (PDF, 302K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wells, W. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Wells, W. A. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?