Engrailed signaling in axon guidance and neuron survival (pages 1837–1845)
Julia Fuchs, Olivier Stettler, Daniel Alvarez-Fischer, Alain Prochiantz, Kenneth L. Moya and Rajiv L. Joshi
Article first published online: 19 JUN 2012 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2012.08139.x
The study of Engrailed signaling in retinal axon guidance and in the survival of adult dopaminergic neurons has revealed an unsuspected link between a homeoprotein and mitochondrial activity. Engrailed-mediated effects involve translation regulation as well as cooperation with classical signaling pathways. These findings highlight the crucial role of cellular energy metabolism in neuron development, survival and neurodegeneration, and may help to identify novel therapeutic targets.