| Robo1, or Roundabout guidance receptor 1, also known as DUTT1, is the founding member of the Robo family of single-pass transmembrane glycoproteins, mediating Slit-dependent repulsion that is critical for midline axon guidance, neuronal migration, and tissue morphogenesis. Its extracellular domain comprises five immunoglobulin-like domains Ig1 to Ig5, with Ig1 and Ig2 forming the primary Slit2-D2 binding site and assembling into compact dimers or tetramers via Ig4 contacts, further rigidified by heparan sulfate binding on Ig1 and Ig2. This is followed by three cysteine-rich fibronectin type III domains, Fn1 to Fn3, with Fn2 and Fn3 near the membrane for cell surface positioning, a transmembrane domain, and an intracellular domain of about 150 amino acids containing four conserved CC0 to CC3 motifs. The CC2 and CC3 motifs recruit Abelson kinase and Dock for cytoskeletal repulsion, while CC1 mediates LogR and DCC antagonism. Robo1's core function centers on Slit2-induced signaling, where the ternary Slit2N-Ig1-heparan sulfate complex triggers Robo1 oligomerization without major conformational shift, and the cytoplasmic CC motifs recruit Dock and ELMO, leading to Rac1 and CDC42 activation, Arp2/3 and WAVE complex engagement, and branched F-actin-mediated repulsion at growth cones and leading edges, thereby inhibiting Netrin and DCC attraction and establishing anterior-posterior boundaries. Robo1 patterns commissural axons by facilitating the anterior turn after midline crossing, restricts glial cells to the midline, governs vascular branching in the lung and kidney, and regulates tumor cell migration, with redundancy among Robo1, Robo2, Robo3, and Robo4 ensuring developmental robustness. Epigenetic silencing through hypermethylation or mutations in Robo1 promotes metastasis in breast and lung cancers by increasing invasion, advances glioma progression, and contributes to autism through neural circuit defects, while reactivation of the Slit2-Robo1 pathway restores tumor suppression. |