title: Changes in the activity of cdk2 and cdk5 accompany differentiation of rat primary oligodendrocytes.
abstract: Oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells of the central nervous system, are terminally differentiated cells that originate through asynchronous waves of proliferation and differentiation of precursors present at birth. Withdrawal from cell cycle and onset of differentiation are tightly linked and depend on an intrinsic program modulated by the action of growth factors. p27 plays a central and obligatory role in the initiation of oligodendrocyte differentiation and cessation of proliferation. In this paper, we have characterized the role of modulation of cdk2 and cdk5 kinase activity during the process of oligodendrocyte precursor differentiation. As rat primary oligodendrocytes differentiate in culture there is a fall in cdk2 activity and a rise in cdk5 activity as well as an increase in the cdk inhibitor, p27 protein. The decline in cdk2 activity is not accompanied by a drop in cdk2 protein level, suggesting that it results from inhibition of cdk2 activation rather than decreased protein expression. Taken together, these data suggest that oligodendrocytes may withdraw from the cell cycle at G1-S transition through inactivation of cdk2 activity, possibly initiated by increasing amount of p27, and that cdk5 may have a role until now unrecognized in the differentiation of oligodendrocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA.
authors.forename: X M
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strocchi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cambi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000494:pharmacology; D042846:CDC2-CDC28 Kinases; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D051357:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology*; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000494:pharmacology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; C493962:Cdkn1b protein, rat; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D011498:Protein Precursors; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D042846:CDC2-CDC28 Kinases; C495892:Cdk2 protein, rat; C495907:Cdk5 protein, rat; D051357:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases