COLLAPSIN-INDUCED GROWTH CONE COLLAPSE MEDIATED BY AN INTRACELLULAR PROTEIN RELATED TO UNC-33

COLLAPSIN(1), a member of the newly recognized semaphorin family(2-4), contributes to axonal pathfinding during neural development by inhibiting growth cone extension(1-5). The mechanism of collapsin action is poorly understood, Here we use a Xenopus laevis oocyte expression system to identify molecules involved in collapsin signalling, because several experiments have raised the possibility that heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins might participate in these events(6-9). A collapsin response mediator protein of relative molecular mass (M(r)) 62K (CRMP-62) required for collapsin-induced inward currents in X. laevis oocytes is isolated. CRMP-62 shares homology with UNC-33, a nematode neuronal protein required for appropriately directed axonal extension(10-12), CRMP-62 is localized exclusively in the developing chick nervous system. Introduction of anti-CRMP-62 antibodies into dorsal root ganglion neurons blocks collapsin-induced growth cone collapse. CRMP-62 appears to be an intracellular component of a signalling cascade initiated by an unidentified transmembrane collapsin-binding protein.