Role of Slit proteins in the vertebrate brain

Diffusible chemorepellents play a major role in guiding developing axons towards their correct targets by preventing them from entering or steering them away from certain regions. Genetic studies in Drosophila revealed a novel repulsive guidance system that prevents inappropriate axons from crossing the CNS midline; this repulsive system is mediated by the Roundabout (Robo) receptors and their secreted ligand Slits. Three distinct slit genes (slit1, slit2 and slit3) and three distinct robo genes (robo1, robo2 and rig-1) have been cloned in mammals. In collagen gel co-cultures, Slit1 and Slit2 can repel and collapse olfactory axons. However, there is also some positive effect associated with Slits, as Slit2 stimulates the formation of axon collateral branches by NGF-responsive neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Slit2 is a large ECM glycoproteins of about 200 kD, which is proteolytically processed into 140 kD N-terminal and 55-60 kD C-terminal fragments. Slit2 cleavage fragments appear to have different cell association characteristics, with the smaller C-terminal fragment being more diffusible and the larger N-terminal and uncleaved fragments being more tightly cell associated. This suggested that the different fragments might have different functional activities in vivo. We have begun to explore these questions by engineering mutant and truncated versions of hSlit2 representing the two cleavage fragments, N- and C-, and the uncleavable molecule and examining the activities of these mutants in binding and functional assays. We found that an axon's response to Slit2 is not absolute, but rather is reflective of the context in which the protein is encountered.