Karolinska Institute, National Institute for Medical Research other research news

Reports in Nature reveal that the sought-for receptor where GDNF initiates its salvaging effects in the nervous system is a protein coded by an oncogene, c-ret.

Ret was known to be a cell surface docking site, but its messenger was until now unknown. Too little Ret leads to defects in embryonic development in the gut and kidney, one report shows. Another report details the ability of GDNF to induce tyrosine phosphorylase signaling through the Ret protein in a responsive motor neuron cell line. ...