Korean J Physiol Pharmacol.  2007 Dec;11(6):239-246.

Involvement of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response in the Neuronal Differentiation

• Cho YM
• Jang YS
• Jang YM
• Seo JY
• Kim HS
• Lee JH
• Jeong SW
• Kim IK
• Kwon OJ

Abstract

Expressions of endoplasmic reticulum stress response (ERSR) genes were examined during the neuronal differentiation of rat fetal cortical precursor cells (rCPC) and rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. When rCPC were differentiated into neuronal cells for 7 days, early stem cell marker, nestin, expression was decreased from day 4, and neuronal markers such as neurofilament-L, -M and Tuj1 were increased after day 4. In this condition, expressions of BIP, ATF6, and phosphorylated PERK as well as their down stream signaling molecules such as CHOP, ATF4, XBP1, GADD34, Nrf2 and p58IPK were significantly increased, suggesting the induction of ERSR during neuronal differentiation of rCPC. ERSR was also induced during the differentiation of PC12 cells for 9 days with NGF. Neurofilament-L transcript was time-dependently increased. Both mRNA and protein levels of Tuj1 were increased after the induction, and the significant increase in NeuN was observed at day 9. Similar to the expression patterns of neuronal markers, BIP/GRP78 and CHOP mRNAs were highly increased at day 9, and ATF4 mRNA was also increased from day 7. These results strongly suggest the induction and possible role of ERSR in neuronal differentiation process. Further study to identify targets responsible for neuronal induction will be necessary.

Keyword

Endoplasmic reticulum; Neuronal differentiation; Stress response; Neuronal precursor cell

MeSH Terms

Animals
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress*
Endoplasmic Reticulum*
Nerve Growth Factor
Nestin
Neurons*
PC12 Cells
Pheochromocytoma
Rats
Rivers
RNA, Messenger
Stem Cells
Nerve Growth Factor
RNA, Messenger