biology

Neuropilin 1

Neuropilin 1 is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Neuropilin 1 rather than just read about it. In short: Neuropilin-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NRP1 gene. In humans, the neuropilin 1 gene is located at 10p11.22.

Key takeaways

Neuropilin 1 belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Neuropilin 1 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Neuropilin 1 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Neuropilin-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NRP1 gene. In humans, the neuropilin 1 gene is located at 10p11.22. This is one of two human neuropilins.

Function NRP1 is a membrane-bound coreceptor to a tyrosine kinase receptor for both vascular endothelial growth factor (for example, VEGFA) and semaphorin (for example, SEMA3A) family members. NRP1 plays versatile roles in angiogenesis, axon guidance, cell survival, migration, and invasion.[supplied by OMIM]

Interactions Neuropilin 1 has been shown to interact with Vascular endothelial growth factor A.

Role in COVID-19 Research has shown that neuropilin 1 facilitates entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells, making it a possible target for future antiviral drugs.

Implication in cancer Neuropilin 1 has been implicated in the vascularization and progression of cancers. NRP1 expression has been shown to be elevated in a number of human patient tumor samples, including brain, prostate, breast, colon, and lung cancers and NRP1 levels are positively correlated with metastasis. In prostate cancer NRP1 has been demonstrated to be an androgen-suppressed gene, upregulated during the adaptive response of prostate tumors to androgen-targeted therapies and a prognostic biomarker of clinical metastasis and lethal PCa. In vitro and in vivo mouse studies have shown membrane bound NRP1 to be proangiogenic and that NRP1 promotes the vascularization of prostate tumors. Elevated NRP1 expression is also correlated with the invasiveness of non-small cell lung cancer both in vitro and in vivo.

Target for cancer therapies As a co-receptor for VEGF, NRP1 is a potential target for cancer therapies. A synthetic peptide, EG3287, was generated in 2005 and has been shown to block NRP1 activity. EG3287 has been shown to induce apoptosis in tumor cells with elevated NRP1 expression. A patent for EG3287 was filed in 2002 and approved in 2003. As of 2015 there were no clinical trials ongoing or completed for EG3287 as a human cancer therapy. Soluble NRP1 has the opposite effect of membrane bound NRP1 and has anti-VEGF activity. In vivo mouse studies have shown that injections of sNRP-1 inhibits progression of acute myeloid leukemia in mice.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neuropilin 1

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neuropilin 1 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Neuropilin 1 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Neuropilin 1 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Neuropilin 1

In research: Neuropilin 1 appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Neuropilin 1 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Neuropilin 1 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Genes on human chromosome 10, Proteins, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neuropilin 1 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Neuropilin 1 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Neuropilin 1 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Neuropilin 1 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Neuropilin 1 in simple terms?

Neuropilin-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NRP1 gene. In humans, the neuropilin 1 gene is located at 10p11.22.

Why does Neuropilin 1 matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Neuropilin 1?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Neuropilin 1.