Muscle-Specific trk-Related Receptor with a Kringle Domain Defines a Distinct Class of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 90; no. 7; pp. 2895 - 2899
• Main Authors: Charles G. B. Jennings, Dyer, Stephen M., Burden, Steven J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.04.1993; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Amino acids; Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Animals; Antisense Elements (Genetics); Base Sequence; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Northern; Complementary DNA; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins; Electric Organ - enzymology; Enzymes and enzyme inhibitors; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Innervation; Marine; Membrane Glycoproteins - genetics; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Mice; Molecular Sequence Data; Molecules; Muscle fibers; Muscles; Muscles - enzymology; Muscular system; Neurons; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; Oncogene Proteins - genetics; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Protein Structure, Secondary; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - genetics; Receptor, Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor; Receptor, trkC; Receptors; Receptors, Cell Surface - genetics; Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; RNA Probes; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Skeletal muscle; Skeletal system; Swine; Synapses; Torpedo; Torpedo californica; Transferases; Enzyme; Sequence alignment; Tissue specificity; Torpedo californica; Homology; Electric organ; Primary structure; Striated muscle; Extracellular; Neuromuscular junction; Vertebrata; Domain structure; Pisces; Protein-tyrosine kinase; Biological receptor
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.90.7.2895

Little is known about the signaling pathways by which motoneurons induce synapses on muscle fibers, and no receptors for synapse-inducing signals have yet been identified. Because several other inductive events in development are mediated by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), and because phosphotyrosine staining within muscle fibers is concentrated at synaptic sites, one possibility is that synapse-inducing signals are transduced by a RTK within the muscle fiber. We have used PCR to search for tyrosine kinases within the electric organ of the electric ray Torpedo californica, since this tissue is homologous to muscle but is much more densely innervated and is therefore a rich source of synaptic molecules. We have isolated a RTK that is specifically expressed in electric organ and skeletal muscle. The kinase domain of this receptor is related to the trk family of neurotrophin receptors, but unlike any previously described receptor, the extracellular region of this Torpedo RTK contains a kringle domain close to the transmembrane domain.