PURPOSE The receptor tyrosine kinase ERBB4/HER4 plays a role in cell division, migration, differentiation, as well as apoptosis, and is frequently overexpressed in breast and colorectal tumors. To understand the role of genetic variations in the regulation of ERBB4 expression, we identified new polymorphisms and investigated their functional implication and risk association with breast and colo...

CONTEXT NRG1 is a schizophrenia candidate gene and plays an important role in brain development and neural function. Schizophrenia is a complex disorder, with etiology likely due to epistasis. OBJECTIVE To examine epistasis between NRG1 and selected N-methyl-d-aspartate-glutamate pathway partners implicated in its effects, including ERBB4, AKT1, DLG4, NOS1, and NOS1AP. DESIGN Schizophrenia ...

During mammalian hindbrain development, sensory axons grow along highly stereotyped routes within the cranial mesenchyme to reach their appropriate entry points into the neuroepithelium. Thus, trigeminal ganglion axons always project to rhombomere (r)2, whilst facial/acoustic ganglia axons always project to r4. Axons are never observed to enter the mesenchyme adjacent to r3, raising the possibi...

Current treatments for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)-an aggressive form of brain cancer-are minimally effective and yield a median survival of 14.6 months and a two-year survival rate of 30%. Given the severity of GBM and the limitations of its treatment, there is a need for the discovery of novel drug targets for GBM and more personalized treatment approaches based on the characteristics of an...

Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) proteins are cell-to-cell signalling substances, which interact with ErbB receptors on cell surfaces. During general embryonal organogenesis, NRG-1 – ErbB interactions contribute with essential functions in cardiacand mammary gland development, and in survival and differentiation of Schwann cells. Both NRG-1-β1 and ErbB4 receptors are expressed during tooth development but ...

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) has been identified as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia, and dysregulation of NRG1 and its ErbB receptors is implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder. The present study examined the protein expression levels of NRG1beta, ErbB2, ErbB3 and ErbB4 in the rat prefrontal cortex and hippocampus following a 4-wk administration of haloperidol (1 mg/kg i.p.), clozapine...

The neuregulin/erbB receptor and agrin/MuSK pathways are critical for communication between the nerve, muscle, and Schwann cell that establishes the precise topological arrangement at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction (NMJ). ErbB2, erbB3, and erbB4 as well as neuregulin, agrin, and MuSK are known to be concentrated at the NMJ. Here we have examined NMJs from gastrocnemius muscle of adult ra...

ome transcription factors take a chaperone to the nuclear dance. On page 469, Williams et al. show that STAT5A gets this escort from the ERBB4 receptor tyrosine kinase. ERBB4 becomes an escort upon activation by growth factors such as heregulin (HRG). The activated receptor is known to recruit and phos-phorylate STAT5A and get cleaved, thus releasing ERBB4's intracellular domain (4ICD). William...

Editor's Note: These short, critical reviews of recent papers in the Journal, written exclusively by graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, are intended to summarize the important findings of the paper and provide additional insight and commentary. For more information on the format and purpose of the Journal Club, please see Review of Chen et al. Schizophrenia is a severe neurological diso...