Our current research has been focused on the molecular mechanisms of a new ligand-receptor pair, Nogo-B and Nogo-B receptor (NgBR), in regulating stem cell differentiation and blood vessel formation during embryo development and tumor growth, and developing therapeutic approaches to modulate Nogo-B/NgBR functions in vitro and in vivo.
The Nogo family of proteins is part of a larger superfamily called reticulons (RTN). This nomenclature derives from the observations that they all contain endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retrieval sequences in their carboxyl tails, localize to the ER and contain a 200 amino acid carboxyl terminal reticulon homology domain (RHD). There are four mammalian RTN genes (RTN1, RTN2, RTN 3 and RTN 4) each of which can be alternatively spliced. In general, very little is known about the cellular biology or function of this entire class of proteins.
