The migration of neuronal precursors along radial glial fibers is a critical step in the formation of the nervous system. In this report, we show that neuregulin-erbB receptor signaling plays a crucial role in the migration of cerebellar granule cells along radial glial fibers. Granule cells express neuregulin (NRG), and radial glia cells express erbB4 in the developing cerebellum and in vitro....

BACKGROUND Deficient cardiac neuregulin/ErbB signaling increases susceptibility to heart failure. In this study, we examined the effects of neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) on myocardial contractility. METHODS AND RESULTS NRG-1 (alpha and beta isoforms) induced a negative inotropic effect in isolated rabbit papillary muscles and a rightward shift of the dose-response curve to isoproterenol. Both effects ...

Signaling by laminins and axonal neuregulin has been implicated in regulating axon sorting by myelin-forming Schwann cells. However, the signal transduction mechanisms are unknown. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) has been linked to alpha6beta1 integrin and ErbB receptor signaling, and we show that myelination by Schwann cells lacking FAK is severely impaired. Mutant Schwann cells could interdigitat...

We describe a key role for the CD44 transmembrane glycoprotein in Schwann cell-neuron interactions. CD44 proteins have been implicated in cell adhesion and in the presentation of growth factors to high affinity receptors. We observed high CD44 expression in early rat neonatal nerves at times when Schwann cells proliferate but low expression in adult nerves, where CD44 was found in some nonmyeli...

Neuregulin signaling through ErbB receptors is known to play an essential role in Schwann cell proliferation, survival and myelination. Recent studies in zebrafish provide a peek at living Schwann cells migrating along axons in vivo and suggest that ErbB signaling, while not required for cell movement per se, is required to maintain the directed migration of these cells.

Schwann cells fail to develop in mouse embryos lacking functional ErbB3 neuregulin receptors, and most sensory and motor neurons subsequently die in these mice. As ErbB3 acts cell autonomously in Schwann cell development but not in neuronal survival, neurons may depend on Schwann cells for survival.

Innervation of the neocortex by the thalamus is dependent on the precise coordination of spatial and temporal guidance cues. In this issue of Cell, work by López-Bendito et al.(2006) reveals that tangentially migrating cells within the ventral telencephalon are essential for axonal navigation between the thalamus and the neocortex, a process apparently mediated by Neuregulin-1/ErbB4 short- and ...