title: Possible promotion of neuronal differentiation in fetal rat brain neural progenitor cells after sustained exposure to static magnetism.
abstract: We have previously shown significant potentiation of Ca(2+) influx mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, along with decreased microtubules-associated protein-2 (MAP2) expression, in hippocampal neurons cultured under static magnetism without cell death. In this study, we investigated the effects of static magnetism on the functionality of neural progenitor cells endowed to proliferate for self-replication and differentiate into neuronal, astroglial, and oligodendroglial lineages. Neural progenitor cells were isolated from embryonic rat neocortex and hippocampus, followed by culture under static magnetism at 100 mT and subsequent determination of the number of cells immunoreactive for a marker protein of particular progeny lineages. Static magnetism not only significantly decreased proliferation of neural progenitor cells without affecting cell viability, but also promoted differentiation into cells immunoreactive for MAP2 with a concomitant decrease in that for an astroglial marker, irrespective of the presence of differentiation inducers. In neural progenitors cultured under static magnetism, a significant increase was seen in mRNA expression of several activator-type proneural genes, such as Mash1, Math1, and Math3, together with decreased mRNA expression of the repressor type Hes5. These results suggest that sustained static magnetism could suppress proliferation for self-renewal and facilitate differentiation into neurons through promoted expression of activator-type proneural genes by progenitor cells in fetal rat brain.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Noritaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamichi
authors.forename: Yukichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishioka
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Shusuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tachibana
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takarada
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoneda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000502:physiology; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000196:embryology; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019579:Neocortex / Q000196:embryology; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C489686:Hes5 protein, rat; C489787:MAP2 protein, rat