title: Effect of GDNF on differentiation of cultured ventral mesencephalic dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic calretinin-expressing neurons.
abstract: Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent survival factor for ventral mesencephalic (VM) dopaminergic neurons. Subpopulations of dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic VM neurons express the calcium-binding proteins calbindin (CB) and calretinin (CR). Characterization of the actions of GDNF on distinct subpopulations of VM cells is of great importance for its potential use as a therapeutic molecule and for understanding its role in neuronal development. The present study investigated the effects of GDNF on the survival and morphological differentiation of dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic neurons in primary cultures of embryonic day (E) 18 rat VM. As expected from our results obtained using E14 VM cells, GDNF significantly increased the morphological complexity of E18 CB-immunoreractive (CB-ir), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-ir, and CR-ir neurons and also the densities of CB-ir and TH-ir neurons. Interestingly, densities of E18 CR-ir neurons, contrarily to our previous observations on E14 CR-ir neurons, were significantly higher after GDNF treatment (by 1.5-fold). Colocalization analyses demonstrated that GDNF increased the densitiy of dopaminergic neurons expressing CR (TH+/CR+/CB-), while no significant effects were observed for TH-/CR+/CB- cell densities. In contrast, we found that GDNF significantly increased the total fiber length (2-fold), number of primary neurites (1.4-fold), number of branching points (2.5-fold), and the size of neurite field per neuron (1.8-fold) of the non-dopaminergic CR-expressing neurons (TH-/CR+/CB-). These cells were identified as GABA-expressing neurons. In conclusion, our findings recognize GDNF as a potent differentiation factor for the development of VM dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic CR-expressing neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Bern, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schaller
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Andres
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-Bouza
authors.forename: Angélique D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Ducray
authors.forename: Rolf W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Seiler
authors.forename: Hans R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Widmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000196:embryology; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000378:metabolism*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C576512:Calb2 protein, rat; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; C495041:Gdnf protein, rat; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D012701:Serotonin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine