No abstract

No abstract

Deposition of the yolk mass components of chicken oocytes, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and vitellogenin (VTG), is mediated by a 95 kDa plasma membrane protein, termed VLDL/VTG receptor (VLDL/VTGR). Molecular characterization of the VLDL/VTGR revealed that it is a member of the LDLR gene superfamily, and harbours eight complement‐type, cysteine‐rich ligand binding repeats at the N‐terminus. This ligand binding domain structure is the hallmark of the recently discovered mammalian so‐called VLDLRs, whose true physiological function remains to be elucidated. Northern blot analysis revealed that this receptor is expressed almost exclusively in oocytes, with very much lower levels of hybridizing transcripts present in heart and skeletal muscle. Heterologous expression of the cloned receptor demonstrated its ability to bind both VLDL and VTG. The receptor gene is located on the avian sex chromosome Z, in agreement with the sex linkage of a single‐gene defect in animals that fail to reproduce because of the lack of expression of functional VLDL/VTGR. In situ hybridization analysis of oocytes suggested that VLDL/VTGR mRNA may relocalize during oocyte growth. Thus, the current study has identified and characterized the first non‐mammalian VLDLR. Its key role in avian reproduction and extremely high evolutionary conservation shed new light on VLDLR function in mammals, which also express the gene in ovaries.

The Reelin signaling cascade plays a crucial role in the correct positioning of neurons during embryonic brain development. Reelin binding to apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2) and very-low-density-lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) leads to phosphorylation of disabled 1 (Dab1), an adaptor protein which associates with the intracellular domains of both receptors. Coreceptors for Reelin have been postulated to be necessary for Dab1 phosphorylation. We show that bivalent agents specifically binding to ApoER2 or VLDLR are sufficient to mimic the Reelin signal. These agents induce Dab1 phosphorylation, activate members of the Src family of nonreceptor tyrosine kinases, modulate protein kinase B/Akt phosphorylation, and increase long-term potentiation in hippocampal slices. Induced dimerization of Dab1 in HEK293 cells leads to its phosphorylation even in the absence of Reelin receptors. The mechanism for and the sites of these phosphorylations are identical to those effected by Reelin in primary neurons. These results suggest that binding of Reelin, which exists as a homodimer in vivo, to ApoER2 and VLDLR induces clustering of ApoER2 and VLDLR. As a consequence, Dab1 becomes dimerized or oligomerized on the cytosolic side of the plasma membrane, constituting the active substrate for the kinase; this process seems to be sufficient to transmit the signal and does not appear to require any coreceptor.Correct positioning of neurons of the cortical plate depends on Reelin, an extracellular matrix protein produced by CajalRetzius cells (10), on the Reelin receptors apolipoprotein E receptor 2 (ApoER2) and very-low-density-lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) (35), and on the intracellular adaptor protein disabled 1 (Dab1) (30). Mutations in the corresponding genes, i.e., the Reelin gene (as in the reeler mouse) (12) and the Dab1 gene (as in the scrambler and yotari mice) (16,32,37), and deletions of the genes for both ApoER2 and VLDLR (35) result in identical cortical layering defects, suggesting that the gene products are part of the same signaling pathway. The current working model proposes that Reelin binds to ApoER2 and VLDLR (11,14). Subsequent phosphorylation of Dab1 is a key event leading to the ultimate cell responses required for correct positioning of newly generated neurons (17, 18). Dab1 was originally identified as an interaction partner of Src (15) and contains a phosphotyrosine binding domain which interacts with the unphosphorylated NPXY motif present in the cytoplasmic domains of ApoER2 and VLDLR (19,34). Phosphorylation of Dab1 induced by Reelin is dependent on the presence of ApoER2 and VLDLR (5) and occurs on Tyr198 and Tyr220 (20). Recent studies demonstrated that members of the Src family of nonreceptor tyrosine kinases (SFKs) are involved in Dab1 phosphorylation in neurons (2, 6). Coreceptors, such as members of the family of cadherin-related neuronal receptors (CNRs), have been proposed to be involved in this pathway (31). Neuronal migration is also regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (27, 28), but whether t...