Cadherin
: Calcium (Ca2+) -dependent adhesion, class of type -1 transmembrane proteins.
Important roles:
cell adhesion, forming adherens junctions to bind cells within tissues together.
The cadherin
superfamily: cadherins, protocadherins,
and atypical cadherins (Fat, Dachsous, and Flamingo)
Each cadherin has a small cytoplasmic
component, a transmembrane component, and the remaining bulk of the protein is
extra-cellular (outside the cell).
Tissue morphogenesis during development is dependent on activities of the
cadherin family of cell–cell adhesion proteins.
The extracellular domain of cadherins contains characteristic repeats that
regulate homophilic and heterophilic interactions during adhesion and cell sorting.
Although cadherins may have originated to facilitate mechanical cell–cell
adhesion, they have evolved to function in many other aspects of morphogenesis.
Cadherin also interactions with a wide range of binding partners that modify
their expression and adhesion activity by local regulation of the actin
cytoskeleton and diverse signaling pathways.
http://www.fastbleep.com/biology-notes/31/178/1022
Halbleib J. Cadherins in development: cell adhesion, sorting, and tissue morphogenesis.Genes & Dev. 2006. 20: 3199-3214.
Fibroblast growth factor (FGFs)
: A family of growth factor.
Involved in: angiogenesis, wound healing, embryonic
development and various endocrine signaling pathways
The FGFs: heparin-binding proteins and interactions with
cell-surface-associated heparin sulfate proteoglycans: be essential for FGF
signal transduction.
Important role: involved
in the regulation of many developmental processes including patterning,
morphogenesis, differentiation, cell proliferation or migration.
The
FGFs: are secreted molecules which function through the activation of specific
tyrosine kinases receptors, the FGF receptors that transduce the signal by
activating different pathways including the Ras/MAP kinase and the
phospholipase-C gamma pathways.
FGFs are such a diverse set of activities
requires a tight control of the transduction signal which is achieved through
the induction of different feedback inhibitors such as the Sproutys, Sef and
MAP kinase phosphatase 3 which are responsible for the attenuation of FGF
signals, limiting FGF activities in time and space.
http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v8/n8/full/nrn2189.html
Thisse B,Thisse Ch.Functions and regulations of fibroblast growth factor signaling during embryonic development .Developmental Biology, Volume 295, Issue 1, 1 July 2006, Page 294.
Wnt signaling pathway
: are a group of
signal transduction pathways made of proteins that pass signals from outside of
a cell through cell surface receptors to the inside of the cell.
Three Wnt
signaling pathways: the canonical Wnt pathway, the noncanonical planar cell
polarity pathway, and the noncanonical Wnt/calcium pathway.
The embryonic
processes include: body axis patterning,
cell fate specification, cell proliferation, and cell migration. These processes are necessary for proper
formation of important tissues including bone, heart, and muscle.
Its role in embryonic development was
discovered when genetic mutations in proteins in the Wnt pathway produced
abnormal fruit fly embryos. Later research found that the genes responsible for
these abnormalities also influenced breast cancer development in mice.
An. Updated Overview on Wnt Signaling Pathways.
.Circulation Research. 2010;106:12 1798-1806.
