MEN2B
MEN2B
RET
A gene on chromosome 10q11.2 that encodes a receptor for tyrosine-protein kinase involved in various cellular processes, including cell proliferation and migration, neuronal navigation and cell differentiation, upon binding with glial-cell-derived neurotrophic factor family ligands. RET regulates cell death/survival, balance and positional information. It orchestrates molecular cascades during intestinal, gut neuroendocrine, gut MALT and renal organogenesis, and it modulates cell adhesion by cleaving caspase in sympathetic neurons and mediates cell migration in an integrin (e.g., ITGB1 and ITGB3)-dependent manner. RET triggers apoptosis by intracellular caspase cleavage; it promotes survival and downregulates growth hormone production, but triggers apoptosis in absence of GDNF.Molecular pathology
RET mutations are associated with neuroendocrine cancers, which are characterised by defects in integrin-regulated cell migration.