Ephrin-A5, a member of the ephrin family, prevents axon bundling in cocultures of cortical neurons with astrocytes, a model of late stage nervous system development and differentiation. As RTK ligands, ephrins stimulate the kinase activity of Eph receptors and activate signaling pathways in receptor-expressing cells. The ephrin extracellular domain is sufficient for this function as long as it is clustered. Based on their structures and sequence relationships, ephrins are divided into the ephrin-A (EFNA) class, which are anchored to the membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage, and the ephrin-B (EFNB) class, which are transmembrane proteins.
