title: Thrombin causes the enrichment of rat brain primary cultures with ependymal cells via protease-activated receptor 1.
abstract: Ependymal cell culture models from rat have been developed over the last 20 years to facilitate biochemical studies on this least-studied glial cell type. The cell culture protocol calls for the presence of thrombin, which is essential for obtaining a high proportion of multiciliated ependymal cells. The serine protease appears to act via protease-activated receptor 1 to prevent the apoptosis of ependymal precursors and enhance their proliferation without affecting contaminating cells. Unciliated precursors differentiate into polyciliated ependymocytes by passing through a stage of monociliation. The message for protease-activated receptor (PAR) 1 is initially abundant in the cultures, but its level declines as the cells differentiate. Besides PAR 1, signalling through PAR 2 also promotes ciliation in rat brain primary cultures, albeit to a lesser degree than the thrombin receptor. Thrombin and other proteases may be involved in the regulation of ventricular wall development. This action would be mediated mainly by PAR1.
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Institute for Biochemistry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tritschler
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Murín
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Birk
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Mirna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rapp
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamprecht
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verleysdonk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002923:Cilia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D021983:Cyclophilins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004805:Ependyma / Q000166:cytology*; D024981:Glycogen Phosphorylase / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012313:RNA / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D044463:Receptor, PAR-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013917:Thrombin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D044463:Receptor, PAR-1; D012313:RNA; D024981:Glycogen Phosphorylase; D013917:Thrombin; D021983:Cyclophilins