title: Neuron-specific ablation of PDGF-B is compatible with normal central nervous system development and astroglial response to injury.
abstract: Members of the PDGF family have multiple roles during embryogenesis and in a variety of pathological situations in the adult. One of the major sites of PDGF-B expression in adult mammals are postmitotic CNS neurons. Combined with reported neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects of exogenously administered PDGFs, this has led to the speculation that PDGF-B may have a role in CNS development, in maintenance, or in response to CNS injury. To test these hypotheses, we developed mice in which PDGF-B was ablated genetically in postmitotic neurons at sites where PDGF-B is normally expressed. We found that these mice develop to adulthood without apparent defects. We demonstrate PDGF-B expression in the postnatal mouse hippocampus and forebrain cortex. We show that neuron-specific knockout of PDGF-B does not influence the astroglial and angiogenic responses to injury in the hippocampus or forebrain cortex. We conclude that the role of neuron-derived PDGF-B remains obscure. A role for neuron-derived PDGF-B, if existing, might be redundant with other CNS growth factors. Alternatively, other and more specific analyses of CNS functions in the normal and injured states will be required to demonstrate such a role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Enge
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wilhelmsson
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abramsson
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stakeberg
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kühn
authors.forename: Christer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Betsholtz
authors.forename: Milos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pekny
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D017931:DNA Primers; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D020574:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-sis / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D020574:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-sis; D012333:RNA, Messenger