title: Neuregulin potentiates agrin-induced acetylcholine receptor clustering in myotubes.
abstract: Agrin and neuregulin (HRG-beta1) play complementary roles in synapse formation. While HRG-beta1 induces transcriptional up-regulation of postsynaptic proteins, here we present evidence that it can potentiate agrin-induced acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clustering in C2 myotubes. Agrin induced maximal AChR clustering in 4 h. HRG-beta1 treatment for 4 h produced no increase over basal AChR cluster numbers. When myotubes were treated for 4 h with 100 pM agrin, HRG-beta1 augmented AChR cluster numbers by 2-fold compared to myotubes treated with 100 pM agrin alone. Thus, HRG-beta1 can potentiate agrin-induced AChR clustering.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072 QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Shyuan T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balke
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Noakes
mesh_terms: D018171:Agrin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004357:Drug Synergism; D051379:Mice; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D020880:Neuregulins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011940:Receptor Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018171:Agrin; D020880:Neuregulins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic