Zachary Ian
Centre for Cardiovascular Science and Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, UK.
Chem Immunol Allergy. 2014;99:37-70. doi: 10.1159/000354169. Epub 2013 Oct 17.
Neuropilins (NRPs) are co-receptors for class 3 semaphorins and for members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family of angiogenic cytokines. Genetic analysis of the role of NRPs in mice shows that NRP1 is essential for embryonic neuronal pathfinding and cardiovascular development, mediated via semaphorins and VEGF, respectively, while NRP2 has a more restricted role in neuronal patterning and lymphangiogenesis. NRPs are thought to mediate functional responses, most importantly cell migration, as a result of complex formation with other receptors, such as plexins in the case of semaphorins and the VEGF receptor, VEGFR2, resulting in enhanced signalling via some intracellular pathways. Recent findings indicate that NRPs may have important biological roles in other physiological and disease-related processes. In particular, NRPs are highly expressed in diverse tumour cell lines and human neoplasms and have been implicated in several biological processes regulating tumour growth in vivo, suggesting that NRP1 may be a future therapeutic target in cancer.
神经纤毛蛋白（NRPs）是3类信号素以及血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）家族血管生成细胞因子成员的共受体。对NRPs在小鼠体内作用的遗传学分析表明，NRP1分别通过信号素和VEGF介导，对胚胎神经元寻路和心血管发育至关重要，而NRP2在神经元模式形成和淋巴管生成中的作用更为有限。NRPs被认为通过与其他受体形成复合物来介导功能反应，最重要的是细胞迁移，例如与信号素结合时与丛状蛋白形成复合物，与VEGF受体VEGFR2结合时，通过一些细胞内途径增强信号传导。最近的研究结果表明，NRPs可能在其他生理和疾病相关过程中具有重要的生物学作用。特别是，NRPs在多种肿瘤细胞系和人类肿瘤中高度表达，并参与了体内调节肿瘤生长的多个生物学过程，这表明NRP1可能是未来癌症治疗的靶点。
