Definition: The ephrin receptors (EPHs) and EPH-related receptors for eprins (EFNs) comprise the largest subfamily of receptor protein-tyrosine kinases (RTKs).
The EPHs receptors for ephrins (EFNs) have been implicated in mediating developmental events, particularly in the nervous system.
Members
| EPHAs | EPHA1 | EPHA2 | EPHA3 | EPHA4 | EPHA5 | |
| EPHBs | EPHB1 | EPHB2 | EPHB3 | EPHB4 | EPHB5 | EPHB6 |
Receptors in the Eph subfamily (EPHs) typically have a single kinase domain and an extracellular region containing a Cys-rich domain and 2 fibronectin type III repeats.
The ligands for Eph receptors (EPHs) have been named ephrins (EFNs) by the Eph Nomenclature Committee (1997).
Based on their structures and sequence relationships, ephrins are divided into the ephrin-A (EFNAs) class, which are anchored to the membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage, and the ephrin-B (EFNBs) class, which are transmembrane proteins.
The Eph family of receptors (EPHRs) are divided into 2 groups based on the similarity of their extracellular domain sequences and their affinities for binding ephrin-A (EPHAs)and ephrin-B ligands (EPHBs).
The Eph Nomenclature Committee (1997) proposed that Eph receptors interacting preferentially with ephrin-A proteins be called EphA (EPHAs) and Eph receptors interacting preferentially with ephrin-B proteins be called EphB (EPHBs).
Involvment
cell-cell interaction
cell migration
morphogenesis
neural development
neural plasticity
signaling during axon guidance
Pathology
- tumor growth
- tumor survival
tumor angiogenesis
tumor metastasis
See also
EFNs (ephrins)
References
Egea J, Klein R. Bidirectional Eph-ephrin signaling during axon guidance. Trends Cell Biol. 2007 Apr 7; PMID: 17420126
Cowan CA, Henkemeyer M. Ephrins in reverse, park and drive. Trends Cell Biol. 2002 Jul;12(7):339-46. PMID: 12185851