Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Regional Partnership Program : Manitoba

The human body contains billions of cells, most of which have highly specialized functions. A major question in biology is how cells become specialized and organize themselves into tissues during development. We know that this process requires cell-cell communication to deliver specific instructions to cells, for instance in guiding nerve cells to their targets or instructing breast cells to form a mammary gland. To receive these instructions, cells carry a large number of receptors on their surface that are able to interact with specific signaling molecules. In many human diseases the cells' receptors do not function properly. The aim of our research is to understand how receptors of one of the most relevant axon guidance molecules, netrin-1, recognize this soluble ligand and how they transmit signals into the cell. In the proposed research program we will perform an integrated approach combining several structural biology techniques together with biophysical studies and in-depth biochemical assays. It is our goal to understand on the molecular level how the multifunctional molecule netrin-1 is operating which is important for the development of new therapies to treat e.g. neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.