title: Bone morphogenetic protein-6 is a neurotrophic factor for calbindin-positive striatal neurons.
abstract: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a set of members of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily recently described as promoting the differentiation of several neuronal populations within the basal ganglia. This study examined whether a member of this family, BMP-6, could exert neurotrophic effects on the neurons of the striatum, in which BMP-6 mRNA had been previously detected during development. Here we show that BMP-6 increases the number and differentiation of calbindin-positive neurons in vitro. Indeed, BMP-6 increased the total area, the perimeter, and the degree of arborization of this neuronal population. This trophic factor promoted dendritic growth without modifying axonal length or soma area. Furthermore, BMP-6 increased the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells while decreasing the number of nestin-positive cells. The suppression of cell proliferation or glial development by the antimitotic fluorodeoxyuridine removed the effects on striatal neurons, suggesting the involvement of astroglial cells in the differentiation induced by BMP-6. The current results confirm the relevance of BMPs in the development of the striatum and emphasize the crucial importance of the trophic interaction between glial and neuronal cells.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Biologia Cellular i Anatomia Patològica, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Casanova 143, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gratacòs
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gavaldà
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alberch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D015415:Biomarkers; D055418:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D064026:Calbindins; D002450:Cell Communication; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C525818:Bmp6 protein, rat; D055418:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D064026:Calbindins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G