[6][7] It belongs to the family of leucine-rich repeat proteins which are known for playing key roles[8] in the biology of the central nervous system.
Since the tetramer has a very large surface area into the cell membrane, it is thought that this may serve as an efficient and stable binding platform, facilitating the interaction with NgR, p75, TROY complex.
It contains a canonical Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)-like tyrosine phosphorylation site on the 591 residue that is critical for intracellular signals.
[16] Its highest expression is in specific adult human brain regions such as the cerebral cortex, a region involved in sensory-motor function, cognition and working memory; the hippocampus, responsible for long-term memory and the encoding and retrieval of multi-sensory information; the amygdala, implicated in the stress response; as well as the thalamus, with a more constant and basal level of expression across the remainder of the brain.
The inhibitory action is achieved through RhoA-GTP upregulation in response to the presence of MOG, MAG or Nogo-66 in the central nervous system.
It has been shown that blocking the extracellular domain of LINGO-1 disrupts the interaction between receptor kinases and LINGO-1 which directly attenuates inhibition of neuronal survival.
[15][18] To be able to understand how these components regulate signalling processes an experiment has been set up "model of serum deprivation" (SD) to prompt neuronal apoptosis.
[citation needed] Research shows that treatments either with a construct containing the IgC2 or EGFR domains in the LINGO1 protein or with Nogo66 which act like a NgR1 agonist, therefore initiating a physiological response when combined with the receptor, resulting in an increased rate of apoptosis in primary cultured cortical neurons under SD.
The adverse effects of Nogo66[19] have proved to enhance the co-association of LINGO1 and WNK3, causing the binding of WNK3 to the intracellular domain of LINGO1 leading to reduced WNK3 kinase activity.
[20] LINGO-1 is able to interact with different co-factors and co-receptors, which can lead to the activation o signaling pathways that can have an effect on the regulation of neuronal survival, axon regeneration, oligodendrocyte differentiation, or myelination processes in the brain.
[22] LINGO-1 is coded by the LINGO-1 gene, which is located on the human chromosome 15, more precisely on the locus 15q24-26, which is a region that has a primordial implication in number of psychiatric, addictive and anxiety related disorders.
Lingo-1-Fc, a soluble form of Lingo-1, has also been shown to antagonize Lingo-1 signaling pathways by inhibiting the binding of Lingo-1 to NgR, in consequence, vast improvements in the functional recovery of rats following lateral hemisection of the spinal cord were observed.
Recent research shows that around the 20% of people who suffer this disease have an increase of the protein LINGO1 in their cerebellum, therefore linking LINGO1 to essential tremor would result in the development of more effective symptomatic therapies and treatment.
Since this soluble form of Lingo-1 is able to block the interactions between Lingo-1 and NgR, it is reasonable to think that the blockade of RhoA occurs at the level of Lingo-1/NgR/p75 or TROY complex, leading to the conclusion that Lingo-1plays a very important part in the lack of re-myelination, repair of neural and axon injuries, etc.
[29] Post-mortem studies were then realized in order to compare the levels of the protein Lingo-1 in these two brain regions (hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) between schizophrenia and healthy subjects.
[31] Multiple sclerosis is among the most common neurological disorders in young adults and it consists in the destructions and damage of the central nervous system (CNS) myelin due to persistent inflammation in the brain and spinal cord.
These damages disrupt the ability and capacity of the CNS to communicate, causing, therefore, a wide range of symptoms including physical, mental and even psychiatric ones.
[32] Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases characterized by features including morphological changes in the optic nerve head and therefore in the visual fields of the patients.
Elevated IOP (intraocular pressure) has been identified as the etiology of glaucoma which causes neural RCG degeneration in the retina.
[33] LINGO1 was found to be expressed in the normal retina and was up regulated in RCGs after the induction of ocular hypertension in a rat chronic glaucoma model.
[34][35] Better than BDNF and BII003 (LINGO1 antagonist) alone, the combined treatment of both provides long term RCG neuroprotection after the induction of ocular hypertension.
Once this protective myelin coating is stripped away, it leads to apoptosis of the neuron; axons gradually die, causing the muscle spasms and paralysis that are characteristic of the disease.
[41] Throughout the study, optic nerve conduction latency was measured (the time for a signal to travel from the retina to the brain's visual cortex).