Induction of tyrosine hydroxylase gene expression in human foetal cerebral cortex.
Human foetal cerebral cortex (9-14 weeks gestational age) was dissected out and cultured in microwell plates. It was then treated with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, 50 ng/ml), dopamine (10 mM) or their combination. After 5 weeks of this treatment tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunopositive neurones were detected at a level of 0.73% of total neurones present. This represented 300-500 TH + neurones per microwell. None were seen in untreated cultures. This correlates with induction of the entire dopaminergic phenotype in foetal rat cerebral cortex (E1214) by the same co-treatment applied for a much shorter time period (7 days), which implies that the complete dopaminergic phenotype is also induced in cultured human foetal tissue over a longer period, reflecting the 5-fold longer neuronal gestational period.
Zhou
J
J
Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College, London, UK.
Pliego-Rivero
B
B
Bradford
H F
HF
Stern
G M
GM
Jauniaux
E R
ER
D000818:Animals; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004298:Dopamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics*
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine