Neuropilins: Role and Function in Health and Disease

Gera Neufeld is Professor of Cell Biology at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Ofra Kessler, phD, is Senior Researcher in the laboratory of Anatomy and Cell Biology by Prof. Neufeld.

• Molecular mechanisms of neuropilin mediated VEGF and other growth factors induced signal transduction.- 1. The role of the neuropilins in VEGF signal transduction.- 2. The role of neuropilins in signaling induced by non-VEGF growth factors.- 3. Structure function studies of neuropilins in the context of their interaction with VEGF and VEGF receptors. Semaphorin signaling.- 1. Stucture function studies of functional class-3 semaphorin receptors.- 2. Control of cytoskeletal organization by class-3 semaphorins.- 3. Control of cell adhesion by class-3 semaphorin activated signaling.- Short Topics. 4. Gating of plexin-D1 function by neuropilin.- 5. Interaction of neuropilins with cell adhesion receptors and its effect on class-3 semaphorin signaling. Neuropilins as a regulators of developmental angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.- 1. Role of neuropilins in the regulation of developmental angiogenesis.- 2. The role of the neuropilins in the development of the lymphatic system.- Short Topics.- 3. The role of the neuropilins in the determination of artery/vein identity.- 4. Neuropilin-1 mediated differentiation of multipotent progenitor cells to endothelial cells.- 5. Role of neuropilin-1 and Phactr-1 in tube formation. Neuropilins as regulators of immune responses 1. Immunological functions of the neuropilins.- Short Topics. 2. Stability and function of regulatory T cells is maintained by a neuropilin-1- semaphorin-4a axis.- 3. Neuropilin 1 guides regulatory T cells into VEGF-producing melanomas. The role of neuropilins in tumor progression 1. Neuropilins as regulators of tumor progression.- Short Topics. 2. Neuropilin-1 on cancer stem cells.- 3. Sema3A induced neuropilin-1 mediated recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells to tumors.- 4. Neuropilins mediate recruitment of macrophages to hypoxic regions in tumors. Nervous system. 1. The role of neuropilins and their semaphorin and VEGF ligands in the development and function of the nervous system.- Short Topics. 2.Neuropilins and neurotrophins in central nervous system development.- The role of neuropilins in retinal development and retinal diseases. 1. The role of the neuropilins in the development of the retina and retinal diseases.-