Effect of lysophosphatidic acid on differentiation of embryonic neural stem cells into neuroglial cells in rats in vitro.
To study the effect of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) on the differentiation of embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs) into neuroglial cells in rats in vitro, both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes were detected by their marker proteins galactocerebroside (Gal-C) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), respectively, using double-labeling immunocytochemistry. RT-PCR assay was also used for analyzing the expression of LPA receptors in NSCs. Our results showed that: (1) LPA at different concentrations (0.01-3.0 mumol/L) was added to culture medium and cell counting was carried out on the 7th day in all groups. Exposure to LPA led to a dose-dependent increase of oligodendrocytes with the response peaked at 1.0 mumol/L, with an increased percentage of 32.6% (P<0.01) of total cells as compared to that of 8.5% in the vehicle group. (2) LPA showed no effect on the differentiation of NSCs into astrocytes. (3) RT-PCR assay showed that LPA(1) and LPA(3) receptors were strongly expressed while LPA(2) receptor expressed weakly in NSCs. These results suggest that LPA at low concentration might act as an extracellular signal through the receptors in NSCs, mainly LPA(1) and LPA(3) receptors, to promote the differentiation of NSCs into oligodendrocytes, while it exhibits little, if any, conceivable effect on the differentiation of NSCs into astrocytes.
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D049368:Receptors, Lysophosphatidic Acid / Q000378:metabolism
D008246:Lysophospholipids; D049368:Receptors, Lysophosphatidic Acid; C032881:lysophosphatidic acid