title: Early involvement of synapsin III in neural progenitor cell development in the adult hippocampus.
abstract: Synapsin III is a synaptic vesicle-associated protein that is expressed in cells of the subgranular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus, a brain region known to sustain substantial levels of neurogenesis into adulthood. Here we tested the hypothesis that synapsin III plays a role in adult neurogenesis with synapsin III knockout and wild-type mice. Immunocytochemistry of the adult hippocampal dentate gyrus revealed that synapsin III colocalizes with markers of neural progenitor cell development (nestin, PSA-NCAM, NeuN, and Tuj1) but did not colocalize with markers of mitosis (Ki67 and PCNA). Because neurogenesis consists of a number of stages, the proliferation, survival, and differentiation of neural progenitor cells were systematically quantitated in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of adult synapsin III knockout and wild-type mice. We found a 30% decrease in proliferation and a 55% increase in survival of neural progenitor cells in synapsin III knockout mice. We also observed a 6% increase in the number of neural progenitor cells that differentiated into neurons. No difference in the volume of the dentate gyrus was observed between synapsin III knockout and wild-type mice. Collectively, our results demonstrate a novel role for synapsin III in regulating the proliferation of neural progenitor cells in the adult hippocampal dentate gyrus. These findings suggest a distinct function for this synaptic vesicle protein, in addition to its role in neurotransmission.
authors.affiliation: Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research and the Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA. hung-teh_kao@brown.edu
authors.forename: Hung-Teh
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Helen M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Janoschka
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Bruce S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Mcewen
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Greengard
authors.forename: Vincent A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Pieribone
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Porton
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D064231:Nestin; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 / Q000378:metabolism; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016704:Synapsins / Q000235:genetics*; D013997:Time Factors; D014404:Tubulin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C577485:Nes protein, mouse; D064231:Nestin; C492380:NeuN protein, mouse; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012794:Sialic Acids; D016704:Synapsins; D014404:Tubulin; C462941:beta3 tubulin, mouse; C103469:polysialyl neural cell adhesion molecule