title: Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor: a new player for the enteric nervous system.
abstract: The enteric nervous system (ENS) controls and modulates gut motility and responds to food intake and to internal and external stimuli such as toxins or inflammation. Its plasticity is maintained throughout life by neural progenitor cells within the enteric stem cell niche. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is known to act not only on cells of the immune system but also on neurons and neural progenitors in the central nervous system (CNS). Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that G-CSF receptor is present on enteric neurons and progenitors and that G-CSF plays a role in the expansion and differentiation of enteric neural progenitor cells. Cultured mouse ENS-neurospheres show increased expansion with increased G-CSF concentrations, in contrast to CNS-derived spheres. In cultures from differentiated ENS- and CNS-neurospheres, neurite outgrowth density is enhanced depending on the amount of G-CSF in the culture. G-CSF might be an important factor in the regeneration and differentiation of the ENS and might be a useful tool for the investigation and treatment of ENS disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Amerikastraße 1, 66482, Zweibrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klotz
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lilischkis
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Karl-Herbert
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Schäfer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017615:Enteric Nervous System / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000473:pathology; D006627:Hirschsprung Disease / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D055495:Neurogenesis; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016188:Receptors, Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016188:Receptors, Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor