title: Differential enhancement of neural and photoreceptor cell differentiation of cultured pineal cells by FGF-1, IGF-1, and EGF.
abstract: There are several common features between the pineal organ and the lateral eye in their developmental and evolutionary aspects. The avian pineal is a photoendocrine organ that originates from the diencephalon roof and represents a transitional type between the photosensory organ of lower vertebrates and the endocrine gland of mammals. Previous cell culture studies have shown that embryonic avian pineal cells retain a wide spectrum of differentiative capacities, although little is known about the mechanisms involved in their fate determination. In the present study, we investigated the effects of various cell growth factors on the differentiation of photoreceptor and neural cell types using pineal cell cultures from quail embryos. The results show that IGF-1 promotes differentiation of rhodopsin-immunoreactive cells, but had no effect on neural cell differentiation. Simultaneous administration of EGF and IGF-1 further enhanced differentiation of rhodopsin-immunoreactive cells, although the mechanism of the synergistic effect is unknown. FGF-1 did not stimulate proliferation of neural progenitor cells, but intensively promoted and maintained expression of a neural cell phenotype. FGF-1 appeared to lead to the conversion from an epithelial (endocrinal) to a neuronal type. It also enhanced phenotypic expression of retinal ganglion cell markers but rather suppressed expression of an amacrine cell marker. These results indicate that growth factors are important regulatory cues for pineal cell differentiation and suggest that they play roles in determining the fate of the pineal organ and the eye. It can be speculated that the differences in environmental cues between the retina and pineal may result in the transition of the pineal primordium from a potentially ocular (retinal) organ to a photoendocrine organ.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Nara Women's University, Nara 630-8506, Japan. masaaraki@cc.nara-wu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masasuke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Haruno
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Layer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000166:cytology*; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology*; D011784:Quail / Q000196:embryology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I