The evolutionary origins of antagonistic neurotrophin signaling

A competitive balance between constructive and destructive developmental cues governs both the form and function of the vertebrate nervous system. In this issue, Foldi et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201607098) explore the evolutionary origins of these cues and report that in Drosophila melanogaster pro- and mature neurotrophins are capable of inducing death and survival pathways, respectively, by binding Toll receptor family members, which then recruit distinct sets of effector proteins.