Korean J Anat.  2004 Oct;37(5):481-490.

Roles of Stem Cell Factor and c-kit Receptor in the Development of Cerebellar GABAergic Neurons

• Won YJ
• Lee JH
• Im JO
• Yun SY
• Hwang SJ
• Kim D
• Hong HN

Abstract

Evidence that Stem cell factor (SCF) and c-Kit receptor tyrosine kinase are expressed in the cerebellum during postnatal development, suggests a possible contribution of the SCF/Kit signaling pathway in the cerebellar development. In the present study, we prepared cerebellar cultures from C57Bl/6J mouse at postnatal day 1and 7 to investigate the role of c-kit receptor and SCF in regulation of growth and differentiation in the postnatal cerebellar GABAergic cells. SCF increased the number of survival cerebellar cells and density of glutamic acid decarboxylase 65/67 (GAD65/67) and calbindin D-28K expression in the immunoblot analysis. SCF also improved the neurite extension of the interneuron neuritis and dendritogenesis of Purkinje cells. Treatment with c-Kit antibody accelerated cellular loss in serum-free media and decreased the growth ability and dendritogenesis of Purkinje cells and cerebellar inhibitory interneurons. Our data suggest that SCF and c-kit receptor are required for the normal growth of postnatal cerebellum and a possible involvement of functional regulation through the SCF/c-kit receptor pathways in the postnatal cerebellar development.

Keyword

Stem cell factor; c-kit receptor; Cerebellar inhibitory interneurons; Purkinje cells; Postnatal development; GAD65/67

MeSH Terms

Animals
Calbindins
Cerebellum
Culture Media, Serum-Free
GABAergic Neurons*
Glutamate Decarboxylase
Interneurons
Mice
Neurites
Neuritis
Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit*
Purkinje Cells
Stem Cell Factor*
Stem Cells*
Culture Media, Serum-Free
Glutamate Decarboxylase
Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
Stem Cell Factor