Gfra2 - glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor family receptor alpha 2

The protein encoded by this gene is part of the receptor complex that transduces glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor and neurturin signals by mediating autophosphorylation and activation of the RET receptor. Mice lacking this protein are viable and fertile but display growth retardation attributed to impaired salivary and pancreatic secretion and innervation deficits in the intestinal tract. In addition, knockout mice display neural defects including a failure to initiate outgrowth of dorsal ganglion root neurons, demonstrating a requirement in neuronal differentiation of these cells. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Oct 2014]