The single AmphiTrk receptor highlights increased complexity of neurotrophin signalling in vertebrates and suggests an early role in developing sensory neuroepidermal cells

E. Benito-Gutierrez
2005 Development  
transduces signals mediated by NGF, BDNF, NT3 and NT4. Markedly, AmphiTrk is able to activate survival and differentiation pathways, but fails to activate the PLCγ pathway, which is involved in synaptic plasticity in higher vertebrates. AmphiTrk is expressed during amphioxus embryogenesis in sensory neural precursors in the epidermis, which possesses single migratory cells. We propose that the duplication and divergence of the Nt/Trk system, in tandem with recruitment of the PLCγ pathway, may
more » ... ve provided the genetic basis for a key aspect of vertebrate evolution: the complexity of the nervous system.
doi:10.1242/dev.01803 pmid:15799999 fatcat:jeuhm22axvbeta62io2pcjkpui