• C Y Wang, J Ni, H Jiang, T A Hsu, M Dugich-Djordjevic, L Feng, M Zhang, L Mei, R Gentz, and B Lu.
• Genetics Graduate Program, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
• Neuroscience. 1998 Mar 1; 83 (1): 7-14.

AbstractGlial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent neurotrophic factor with diverse biological functions. Signal transduction of GDNF is mediated by binding to a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked receptor GDNFR-alpha and activation of c-RET tyrosine kinase. The recent discovery of a new GDNF homolog neurturin raises the possibility that multiple receptors exist for the members in the GDNF family. Here we report isolation of the gene encoding a new receptor called GDNFR-beta. Sequence analysis indicated that GDNFR-beta is also a GPI-linked protein, with 47% identity to GDNFR-alpha. The GDNFR-beta transcript was preferentially expressed in the brain, spleen and lung, but moderate levels of GDNFR-beta mRNA were also found in kidney and the entire gastrointestinal track. In situ hybridization revealed high expression levels in the entorhinal cortex and olfactory bulb, followed by cortex, septum, inferior and superior colliculus, and zona inserta. A laminar pattern of expression was detected in layer III of the cortex. Treatment with GDNF of PC12 cells transfected with the GDNFR-beta gene activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and elicited neurite outgrowth. GDNFR-alpha and GDNFR-beta together form a new family of GPI-linked receptors for GDNF-like molecules.

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