Vertebrate slit, a secreted ligand for the transmembrane protein roundabout, is a repellent for olfactory bulb axons

Hua shun Li, Jin hui Chen, Wei Wu, Tanya Fagaly, Lijuan Zhou, Wenlin Yuan, Sophie Dupuis, Zhi hong Jiang, William Nash, Carrie Gick, David M. Ornitz, Jane Y. Wu*, Yi Rao

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

411 Scopus citations

Abstract

The olfactory bulb plays a central role in olfactory information processing through its connections with both peripheral and cortical structures. Axons projecting from the olfactory bulb to the telencephalon are guided by a repulsive activity in the septum. The molecular nature of the repellent is not known. We report here the isolation of vertebrate homologs of the Drosophila slit gene and show that Slit protein binds to the transmembrane protein Roundabout (Robo). Slit is expressed in the septum whereas Robo is expressed in the olfactory bulb. Functionally, Slit acts as a chemorepellent for olfactory bulb axons. These results establish a ligand- receptor relationship between two molecules important for neural development, suggest a role for Slit in olfactory bulb axon guidance, and reveal the existence of a new family of axon guidance molecules.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)807-818
Number of pages12
JournalCell
Volume96
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 19 1999

Funding

We are grateful to J. Price for helpful discussions; to P. Klein for comments on the manuscript; to M. Tessier-Lavigne for the stable Netrin-expressing cell line; to D. Fisher for a Sema III cDNA; to M. Tessier-Lavigne and C. Goodman for communication prior to publication; to NIH, NSF, NNSFC, and SCST for support; to the John Merck Fund, NNSFC, and the Leukemia Society of America for scholar awards (to Y. R. and J. Y. W.).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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