A role of N-cadherin in neuronal differentiation of embryonic carcinoma P19 cells.
N-cadherin is one of the important molecules for cell to cell interaction in the development of the central nervous system (CNS). In this report, we have shown that N-cadherin mRNA and protein were increased rapidly in retinoic acid (RA)-induced neuronal differentiation of embryonic carcinoma P19 cells. To explore possible roles for N-cadherin during this process, N-cadherin-overexpressing P19 cell lines were established. These transfected cells could differentiate into neurofilament-expressing neurons in the absence of RA. RT-PCR revealed that the expression patterns of development-related genes, such as Oct-3/4, nestin, Notch-1, and Mash-1 were similar between the transfected P19 cells and the RA-induced wild-type P19 cells during their neuronal differentiation. On the contrary, the Wnt-1 gene was up-regulated in the N-cadherin-overexpressing P19 cells, but could not be detected in the wild-type P19 cells. These results suggest N-cadherin may play a role in neuronal differentiation of P19 cells, possibly through the Wnt-1 signaling pathway.
Gao
X
X
Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China.
Bian
W
W
Yang
J
J
Tang
K
K
Kitani
H
H
Atsumi
T
T
Jing
N
N
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D015820:Cadherins