Orphan nuclear receptor Nurr1 induces neuron differentiation from embryonic cortical precursor cells via an extrinsic paracrine mechanism.
Nurr1 is an orphan nuclear receptor-type transcription factor (TF) that plays critical roles in midbrain dopamine neuron development. This study demonstrated a novel role for Nurr1 in neuronal/astrocytic differentiation of neural precursor (NP) cells isolated from rat embryonic cortices: overexpression of this TF promoted NP cell differentiation towards neurons at the expense of astrocytic differentiation. Single cell-based lineage analyses and experiments using co-cultures revealed that Nurr1 elicited its neurogenic role in an extrinsic paracrine manner. We defined diffusible factors and downstream neurogenic TFs responsible for the Nurr1-mediated neuronal differentiation.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, # 17 Haengdang-dong, Sungdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea.
Eun-Ji
EJ
Bae
Hyun-Seob
HS
Lee
Chang-Hwan
CH
Park
Sang-Hun
SH
Lee
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D057126:Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4, Group A, Member 2; D051381:Rats; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*
D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C539884:Nr4a2 protein, rat; D057126:Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4, Group A, Member 2; D014157:Transcription Factors