Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) plays a central role in formation of the blood vasculature. The growth factor acts on endothelial cells via a receptor tyrosine kinase, VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and a non-tyrosine kinase receptor neuropilin-1 (NRP1). Both of these are vital to VEGF-A signaling as a deletion or mutations in either receptor lead to a variety of vascular defects. Given...

The optic tectum comprises multiple layers, which are formed by radial and tangential migration during development. Here, we report that Neuropilin 1 (NRP1)-mediated Sema3A signals are involved in the process of tectal laminar formation, which is elaborated by tangential migration. In the developing chick tectum, NRP1, a receptor for Sema3A, is expressed in microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP...

In the immune system, Neuropilin-1 (Nrp1) is a molecule that plays an important role in establishing the immunological synapse between dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells. Recently, Nrp1 has been identified as a marker that seems to distinguish natural T regulatory (nTreg) cells, generated in the thymus, from inducible T regulatory (iTreg) cells raised in the periphery. Given the crucial role of ...

Sprouting angiogenesis drives blood vessel growth in healthy and diseased tissues. Vegf and Dll4/Notch signalling cooperate in a negative feedback loop that specifies endothelial tip and stalk cells to ensure adequate vessel branching and function. Current concepts posit that endothelial cells default to the tip-cell phenotype when Notch is inactive. Here we identify instead that the stalk-cell...

Tumor metastasis is a major cause leading to the deaths of cancer patients. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a natural product that has been demonstrated to show therapeutic values in multiple diseases. In this study, we report that NDGA can inhibit cell migration and tumor metastasis via a novel mechanism. NDGA suppresses NRP1 function by downregulating its expression, which leads to attenu...

The biotinylating reagent succinimidyl 6-(biotinamido)hexanoate was used to label the cell surfaces of the cosmopolitan, marine, eukaryotic microorganism Emiliania huxleyi under different growth conditions. Proteins characteristic of different nutrient conditions could be identified. In particular, a nitrogen-regulated protein, nrp1, has an 82-kDa subunit that is present under nitrogen limitati...

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a rapidly progressive brain cancer that exploits the neural microenvironment, and particularly blood vessels, for selective growth and survival. Anti-angiogenic agents such as the vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) blocking antibody bevacizumab yield short-term benefits to patients due to blood vessel regression and stabilization of vascular permeability. Howeve...

NUCLEOSOME ASSEMBLY PROTEIN1 (NAP1) is conserved from yeast to human and was proposed to act as a histone chaperone. While budding yeast contains a single NAP1 gene, multicellular organisms, including plants and animals, contain several NAP1 and NAP1-RELATED PROTEIN (NRP) genes. However, the biological role of these genes has been largely unexamined. Here, we show that, in Arabidopsis thaliana,...

Multidrug resistance (MDR) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains a public health issue for women worldwide, and its molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. The present study aimed to predict the potential genes involved in MDR, and examine the mechanisms underlying MDR in EOC using bioinformatics techniques. In the present study, four public microarray datasets, including GSE41...