Draxin is a chemorepulsive axon guidance protein required for the neural development []. It acts as a Wnt antagonist that is predominantly expressed in developing neural tissues [].
DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) is a receptor for netrin required for axon guidance [, ]. It also binds a second axon guidance protein, Draxin []. The interactions between these guidance cues and DCC play a key role in the development of the nervous system.DCC belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. The protein consists of four N-terminal Ig-like domains []followed by six fibronectin type III domains (FN), a transmembrane segment and the cytosolic portion []. The deletion of DCC has been linked to the propensity of cancerous cells to metastasise [, ]. DCC indeed functions as a tumour suppressor through its ability to trigger tumour cell apoptosis [].
