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REVIEW: Guidance Receptors in the Nervous and Cardiovascular Systems


K. A. Rubina* and V. A. Tkachuk

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Medicine, 119192 Moscow, Russia; fax: +7 (495) 932-9904; E-mail: rkseniya@mail.ru

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received June 1, 2015; Revision received June 16, 2015
Blood vessels and nervous fibers grow in parallel, for they express similar receptors for chemokine substances. Recently, much attention is being given to studying guidance receptors and their ligands besides the growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines necessary to form structures in the nervous and vascular systems. Such guidance molecules determine trajectory for growing axons and vessels. Guidance molecules include Ephrins and their receptors, Neuropilins and Plexins as receptors for Semaphorins, Robos as receptors for Slit-proteins, and UNC5B receptors binding Netrins. Apart from these receptors and their ligands, urokinase and its receptor (uPAR) and T-cadherin are also classified as guidance molecules. The urokinase system mediates local proteolysis at the leading edge of cells, thereby providing directed migration. T-cadherin is a repellent molecule that regulates the direction of growing axons and blood vessels. Guidance receptors also play an important role in the diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
KEY WORDS: guidance receptors, angiogenesis, neurogenesis, urokinase system, T-cadherin

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297915100041