Description
Product Characteristics:
Receptor tyrosine kinase which binds promiscuously GPI-anchored ephrin-A family ligands residing on adjacent cells, leading to contact-dependent bidirectional signaling into neighboring cells. The signaling pathway downstream of the receptor is referred to as forward signaling while the signaling pathway downstream of the ephrin ligand is referred to as reverse signaling. Among GPI-anchored ephrin-A ligands, EFNA5 most probably constitutes the cognate/functional ligand for EPHA5. Functions as an axon guidance molecule during development and may be involved in the development of the retinotectal, entorhino-hippocampal and hippocamposeptal pathways. Together with EFNA5 plays also a role in synaptic plasticity in adult brain through regulation of synaptogenesis. In addition to its function in the nervous system, the interaction of EPHA5 with EFNA5 mediates communication between pancreatic islet cells to regulate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (By similarity).
Subcellular location: Cell membrane
Synonyms: EK7, CEK7, EHK1, HEK7, EHK-1, TYRO4, Ephrin type-A receptor 5, Brain-specific kinase, EPH homology kinase 1, EPH-like kinase 7, EPHA5, BSK
Target Information: This gene belongs to the ephrin receptor subfamily of the protein-tyrosine kinase family. EPH and EPH-related receptors have been implicated in mediating developmental events, particularly in the nervous system. Receptors in the EPH subfamily typically have a single kinase domain and an extracellular region containing a Cys-rich domain and 2 fibronectin type III repeats. The ephrin receptors are divided into 2 groups based on the similarity of their extracellular domain sequences and their affinities for binding ephrin-A and ephrin-B ligands. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jan 2009]