title: Neurturin is a neuritogenic but not a survival factor for developing and adult central noradrenergic neurons.
abstract: Noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) express the receptor tyrosine kinase c-ret, which binds ligands of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family. In the present study, we evaluated the function of neurturin (NTN), a GDNF family ligand whose function on LC neurons is unknown. Interestingly, we found that tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the LC express both GFRalpha1 and 2 receptors in a developmentally regulated fashion, suggesting a function for their preferred ligands: GDNF and NTN, respectively. Moreover, our results show that NTN mRNA expression is developmentally down-regulated in the LC and peaks in the postnatal hippocampus and cerebral cortex, during the target innervation period. In order to examine the function of NTN, we next performed LC primary cultures, and found that neither GDNF nor NTN promoted the survival of TH-positive neurons. However, both factors efficiently induced neurite outgrowth in noradrenergic neurons (147% and 149% over controls, respectively). Similarly, grafting of fibroblast cell lines engineered to express high levels of NTN did not prevent the loss of LC noradrenergic neurons in a 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion model, but induced the sprouting of TH-positive cells. Thus our findings show that NTN does not promote the survival of LC noradrenergic neurons, but induces neurite outgrowth in developing noradrenergic neurons in vitro and in a model of neurodegeneration in vivo. These data, combined with data in the literature, suggest that GDNF family ligands are able to independently regulate neuronal survival and/or neuritogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pontus C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Akerud
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Ernest
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arenas
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000502:physiology; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051097:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051101:Neurturin; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000502:physiology*; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C495041:Gdnf protein, rat; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051097:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051101:Neurturin; C495057:Nrtn protein, rat; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D016627:Oxidopamine; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C416649:Ret protein, Drosophila; C495001:Ret protein, rat; D009638:Norepinephrine