Drebrin E is involved in the regulation of axonal growth through actin-myosin interactions.
Drebrin is a well-known side-binding protein of F-actin in the brain. Immunohistochemical data suggest that the peripheral parts of growing axons are enriched in the drebrin E isoform and mature axons are not. It has also been observed that drebrin E is concentrated in the growth cones of PC12 cells. These data strongly suggest that drebrin E plays a role in axonal growth during development. In this study, we used primary hippocampal neuronal cultures to analyze the role of drebrin E. Immunocytochemistry showed that within axonal growth cones drebrin E specifically localized to the transitional zone, an area in which dense networks of F-actins and microtubules overlapped. Over-expression of drebrin E caused drebrin E and F-actin to accumulate throughout the growth cone and facilitated axonal growth. In contrast, knockdown of drebrin E reduced drebrin E and F-actin in the growth cone and prevented axonal growth. Furthermore, inhibition of myosin II ATPase masked the promoting effects of drebrin E over-expression on axonal growth. These results suggest that drebrin E plays a role in axonal growth through actin-myosin interactions in the transitional zone of axonal growth cones.
Mizui
Toshiyuki
T
Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Kojima
Nobuhiko
N
Yamazaki
Hiroyuki
H
Katayama
Michihito
M
Hanamura
Kenji
K
Shirao
Tomoaki
T
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020439:Growth Cones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009218:Myosins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000502:physiology*; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats
D000199:Actins; D009479:Neuropeptides; C083795:drebrin E; D009218:Myosins