Overexpression of NTRK1 Promotes Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells into Cholinergic Neurons.
Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase type 1 (NTRK1) plays critical roles in proliferation, differentiation, and survival of cholinergic neurons; however, it remains unknown whether enhanced expression of NTRK1 in neural stem cells (NSCs) can promote their differentiation into mature neurons. In this study, a plasmid encoding the rat NTRK1 gene was constructed and transfected into C17.2 mouse neural stem cells (NSCs). NTRK1 overexpression in C17.2 cells was confirmed by western blot. The NSCs overexpressing NTRK1 and the C17.2 NSCs transfected by an empty plasmid vector were treated with or without 100 ng/mL nerve growth factor (NGF) for 7 days. Expression of the cholinergic cell marker, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), was detected by florescent immunocytochemistry (ICC). In the presence of NGF induction, the NSCs overexpressing NTRK1 differentiated into ChAT-immunopositive cells at 3-fold higher than the NSCs transfected by the plasmid vector (26% versus 9%, P < 0.05). The data suggest that elevated NTRK1 expression increases differentiation of NSCs into cholinergic neurons under stimulation of NGF. The approach also represents an efficient strategy for generation of cholinergic neurons.
Department of Neurology, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Neuroscience Institute, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
Limin
L
Wang
Department of Neurology, Linyi City People's Hospital, Linyi, Shandong 276000, China.
Feng
F
He
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Department of Neurology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, China.
Zhuoyuan
Z
Zhong
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Department of Neurology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, China.
Ruiyan
R
Lv
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Department of Neurology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, China.
Songhua
S
Xiao
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Department of Neurology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510120, China.
Zhonglin
Z
Liu
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D059329:Cholinergic Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D020917:Receptor, trkA / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
D020932:Nerve Growth Factor; D020917:Receptor, trkA