title: The role and mechanism of action of activin A in neurite outgrowth of chicken embryonic dorsal root ganglia.
abstract: Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) superfamily, plays an essential role in neuron survival as a neurotrophic and neuroprotective factor in the central nervous system. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of activin A on the neurite outgrowth of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) remain unclear. In the present study, we found that activin A is expressed in DRG collected from chicken embryos on embryonic day 8 (E8). Moreover, activin A induced neurite outgrowth of the primary cultured DRG and maintained the survival of monolayer-cultured DRG neurons throughout the observation period of ten days. Follistatin (FS), an activin-binding protein, significantly inhibited activin A-induced neurite outgrowth of DRG, but failed to influence the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on DRG neurite outgrowth. Furthermore, the results showed that activin A significantly upregulated mRNA expression of activin receptor type IIA (ActRIIA) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in DRG, and stimulated serotonin (5-HT) production from DRG, indicating that activin A might induce DRG neurite outgrowth by promoting CGRP expression and stimulating 5-HT release. These data suggest that activin A plays an important role in the development of DRG in an autocrine or paracrine manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Norman Bethune College of Medicine, Jilin University, 126 Xinmin Street, Changchun 130021,  China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Yi-Nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xue-Ling
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Si-Yue
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Jing-Yan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Zhong-Hui
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D030301:Activin Receptors, Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D028341:Activins / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D019898:Autocrine Communication / Q000502:physiology; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D038681:Follistatin / Q000378:metabolism; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016501:Neurites / Q000502:physiology*; D019899:Paracrine Communication / Q000502:physiology; D061251:Primary Cell Culture; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D038681:Follistatin; C422405:activin A; D028341:Activins; D012701:Serotonin; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor; D030301:Activin Receptors, Type II; C425585:activin receptor type II-A; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide