Process elongation of oligodendrocytes is promoted by the Kelch-related protein MRP2/KLHL1

Oligodendrocytes (OLGs) are generated by progenitor cells that are committed to differentiating into myelin-forming cells of the central nervous system. Rearrangement of the cytoskeleton leading to the extension of cellular processes is essential for the myelination of axons by OLGs. Here, we have characterized a new member of the Kelch-related protein family termed MRP2 (for Mayven-related protein 2) that is specifically expressed in brain. MRP2/KLHL1 is expressed in oligodendrocyte precursors and mature OLGs, and its expression is up-regulated during OLG differentiation. MRP2/KLHL1 expression was abundant during the specific stages of oligodendrocyte development, as identified by A2B5-, O4-, and O1-specific oligodendrocyte markers. MRP2/KLHL1 was localized in the cytoplasm and along the cell processes. Moreover, a direct endogenous association of MRP2/KLHL1 with actin was observed, which was significantly increased in differentiated OLGs compared with undifferentiated OLGs. Overexpression of MRP2/KLHL1 resulted in a significant increase in the process extension of rat OLGs, whereas MRP2/KLHL1 antisense reduced the process length of primary rat OLGs. Furthermore, murine OLGs isolated from MRP2/KLHL1 transgenic mice showed a significant increase in the process extension of OLGs compared with control wild-type murine OLGs. These studies provide insights into the role of MRP2/KLHL1, through its interaction with actin, in the process elongation of OLGs.     

Sequential specification of neurons and glia by developmentally regulated extracellular factors

Cortical progenitor cells give rise to neurons during embryonic development and to glia after birth. While lineage studies indicate that multipotent progenitor cells are capable of generating both neurons and glia, the role of extracellular signals in regulating the sequential differentiation of these cells is poorly understood. To investigate how factors in the developing cortex might influence cell fate, we developed a cortical slice overlay assay in which cortical progenitor cells are cultured over cortical slices from different developmental stages. We find that embryonic cortical progenitors cultured over embryonic cortical slices differentiate into neurons and those cultured over postnatal cortical slices differentiate into glia, suggesting that the fate of embryonic progenitors can be influenced by developmentally regulated signals. In contrast, postnatal progenitor cells differentiate into glial cells when cultured over either embryonic or postnatal cortical slices. Clonal analysis indicates that the postnatal cortex produces a diffusible factor that induces progenitor cells to adopt glial fates at the expense of neuronal fates. The effects of the postnatal cortical signals on glial cell differentiation are mimicked by FGF2 and CNTF, which induce glial fate specification and terminal glial differentiation respectively. These observations indicate that cell fate specification and terminal differentiation can be independently regulated and suggest that the sequential generation of neurons and glia in the cortex is regulated by a developmental increase in gliogenic signals.     

Mitogenic activity of neu differentiation factor/heregulin mimics that of epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-I in human mammary epithelial cells

Recently, a family of growth factors has been described that activates erbB-2 receptors. These factors, known as the neu differentiation factors (NDF) or heregulins (HRG), induce tyrosine phosphorylation of erbB-2 receptors as a result of their direct interaction with either erbB-3 or erbB-4 receptors. Although it is known that expression of erbB-2 receptors has relevance in human breast cancer progression, how erbB-2, -3 and -4 receptors regulate mammary epithelial cell proliferation is not known. Therefore, experiments were carried out to study the mitogenic activity of NDF/HRG on the human mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A which can be cultured continuously under serum-free conditions. MCF-10A cells, like primary cultures of normal human mammary epithelial cells, express an absolute requirement for exogenous epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) for growth. The results of these experiments indicate that NDF/HRG can induce tyrosine phosphorylation of p185erbB-2 in MCF-10A cells and is mitogenic for these cells. This is consistent with the coexpression of erbB-2 and erbB-3 mRNA that we have observed in MCF-10A cells. In addition, we found that NDF/HRG can substitute for either EGF or IGF-I to stimulate proliferation of these cells. The ability to substitute for both EGF and IGF-I is a unique property of NDF/HRG and is not shared by other members of the EGF or IGF family of growth factors, nor by other factors that we have studied. A striking isoform specificity was also observed which indicated that the β-isoforms of NDF/HRG were greater than ten times more mitogenic than the α-isoforms. We also examined the mitogenic activity of NDF/HRG on MCF-10A cells that overexpress the erbB-2 receptor as a result of infection with a retroviral vector containing the human c-erbB-2 gene (MCF-10AerbB-2 cells). These studies indicated that MCF-10AerbB-2 cells have increased sensitivity to the mitogenic effects of NDF/HRG and that these cells are responsive to the α-isoforms of NDF/HRG at physiological concentrations. Thus, NDF/HRG is a dual specificity growth factor for human mammary epithelial cells, and the responsiveness of the cells to NDF/HRG is influenced by the level of expression of erbB-2 receptors. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Radial glial cells defined and major intermediates between embryonic stem cells and CNS neurons

Radial glial cells have been identified as a major source of neurons during development. Here, we review the evidence for the distinct "glial" nature of radial glial cells and contrast these cells with their progenitors, the neuroepithelial cells. Recent results also suggest that not only during neurogenesis in vivo, but also during the differentiation of cultured embryonic stem cells toward neurons, progenitors with clear glial antigenic characteristics act as cellular intermediates.     

Comparison of in vivo and in vitro subcellular localization of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in oligodendrocytes

The existence of estrogen receptors (ERs) in oligodendrocytes (OLGs) in vivo and in vitro is unresolved, as their presence has been reported in some studies and their absence in others. Using molecular and immunocytochemical techniques, we describe the subcellular localization of ERalpha and ERbeta in OLGs in vivo and in vitro. Both ERalpha and ERbeta are detected in an immortalized OLG cell line and in enriched OLG cultures by RT-PCR and western blot. Immunocytochemistry of OLGs from enriched cultures shows ERalpha receptors are nuclear, whereas ERbeta receptors are cytoplasmic. Confocal and deconvolution microscopy of enriched OLG cultures reveals ERbeta immunoreactivity is concentrated in perikarya and veins of OLG membrane sheets; lesser reactivity is present in their plasma membranes and nuclei. In vivo, we readily detect ERalpha in neurons but not in OLGs, even though we used different fixation procedures and different ERalpha antibodies. The presence of ERalpha in cultured OLGs may be due to culture media that contains factors stimulating ERalpha expression but are reduced in normal brain. In vivo, ERbeta immunoreactivity is readily detectable in OLG cytoplasm and in myelin sheaths. Incubation of glial cultures without or with increasing concentrations of 17beta-estradiol (E2) shows that E2 significantly accelerates OLG process formation.     

Thyroidal regulation of different isoforms of NaKATPase in glial cells of developing rat brain.

The developmental profile of the different isoforms of NaKATPase have been investigated during the first three weeks of postnatal development using primary cultures of isolated glial cells derived from neonatal rat cerebra. Northern and Western blot analysis show that the expression of four isoforms (alpha1, alpha2, beta1 and beta2) in these cells increases progressively between 5 to 20 days of culture. Comparison of the mRNA levels of these isoforms in thyroid hormone deficient (TH def) and thyroid hormone supplemented (TH sup) cells cultured for 5-10 days, revealed for the first time that all four isoforms are sensitive to T3 in the glial cells. Furthermore immunocytochemical staining of these cells with isoform specific NaKATPase antibodies also showed that the localization of the different isoforms in the TH def cells were altered in comparison to that in the TH sup cells. These results establish glial cells as the target cells for the regulation of NaKATPase by TH in the developing brain.     

Symposium 10: Differentiation Plasticity of Stem Cells. Direct differentiation of radial glial cells from embryonic stem cells

The major role of radial glial cells in neuronal development is to provide support and guidance for neuronal migration. In vitro, neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes have also been generated from neural stem cells and embryonic stem cells, but the generation of radial glial cells in vitro has not yet been reported. Since radial glial cells can lead to neurons and astrocytes during brain development, neurogenesis and gliogenesis of stem cells in vitro may at least in part also utilize the same mechanisms. To test this hypothesis, we utilized five different clones of embryonic (ES) and embryonal carcinoma (EC) stem cell lines to investigate the differentiation of radial glial cells during in vitro neural differentiation. Here, we demonstrate that radial glial cells can be generated from ES/EC cell lines. These ES/EC cell‐derived radial glial cells are similar in morphology to radial glial cells in vivo. They also express several cytoskeletal markers that are characteristics of radial glial cells in vivo. The processes of these in vitro‐generated radial glial cells are organized into scaffolds that appear to support the migration of newly generated neurons in culture. Like radial glial cells in vivo, they appear to differentiate subsequently into astrocytes. Differentiation of radial glial cells may be a common pathway during in vitro neural differentiation of ES cells. This novel in vitro model system may facilitate the investigation of regulation of radial glial cell differentiation and its biological function. Acknowledgements: Supported by USPHS Grant NS11853 and a grant from the Children's Medical Research Foundation.     

Spontaneous immortalisation of Schwann cells in culture: short-term cultured Schwann cells secrete growth inhibitory activity.

In the developing peripheral nerve, Schwann cells proliferate rapidly and then become quiescent, an essential step in control of Schwann cell differentiation. Cell proliferation is controlled by growth factors that can exert positive or inhibitory influences on DNA synthesis. It has been well established that neonatal Schwann cells divide very slowly in culture when separated from neurons but here we show that when culture was continued for several months some cells began to proliferate rapidly and non-clonal lines of immortalised Schwann cells were established which could be passaged for over two years. These cells had a similar molecular phenotype to short-term cultured Schwann cells, except that they expressed intracellular and cell surface fibronectin. The difference in proliferation rates between short- and long-term cultured Schwann cells appeared to be due in part to the secretion by short-term cultured Schwann cells of growth inhibitory activity since DNA synthesis of long-term, immortalised Schwann cells was inhibited by conditioned medium from short-term cultures. This conditioned medium also inhibited DNA synthesis in short-term Schwann cells stimulated to divide by glial growth factor or elevation of intracellular cAMP. The growth inhibitory activity was not detected in the medium of long-term immortalised Schwann cells, epineurial fibroblasts, a Schwannoma (33B), astrocytes or a fibroblast-like cell-line (3T3) and it did not inhibit serum-induced DNA synthesis in epineurial fibroblasts, 33B cells or 3T3 cells. The activity was apparently distinct from transforming growth factor-beta, activin, IL6, epidermal growth factor, atrial natriuretic peptide and gamma-interferon and was heat and acid stable, resistant to collagenase and destroyed by trypsin treatment. We raise the possibility that loss of an inhibitory autocrine loop may contribute to the rapid proliferation of long-term cultured Schwann cells and that an autocrine growth inhibitor may have a role in the cessation of Schwann cell division that precedes differentiation in peripheral nerve development.     

Molecular and functional characterisation of glutamate transporters in rat cortical astrocytes exposed to a defined combination of growth factors during in vitro differentiation

In vitro culture of astroglial progenitors can be obtained from early post-natal brain tissues and several methods have been reported for promoting their maturation into differentiated astrocytes. Hence, a combination of several nutriments/growth factors -- the G5 supplement (insulin, transferrin, selenite, biotin, hydrocortisone, fibroblast growth factor and epidermal growth factor) -- is widely used as a culture additive favouring the growth, differentiation and maturation of primary cultured astrocytes. Considering the key role played by glial cells in the clearance of glutamate in the synapses, cultured astrocytes are frequently used as a model for the study of glutamate transporters. Indeed, it has been shown that when tested separately, growth factors influence the expression and activity of the GLAST and GLT-1. The present study aimed at characterising the functional expression of these transporters during the time course of differentiation of cultured cortical astrocytes exposed to the supplement G5. After a few days, the vast majority of cells exposed to this supplement adopted a typical stellate morphology (fibrous or type II astrocytes) and showed intense expression of the glial fibrillary acidic protein. Both RT-PCR and immunoblotting studies revealed that the expression of both GLAST and GLT-1 rapidly increased in these cells. While this was correlated with a significant increase in specific uptake of radiolabelled aspartate, fluorescence monitoring of the Na+ influx associated with glutamate transporters activity revealed that the exposure to the G5 supplement considerably increased the percentage of cells participating in the uptake. Biochemical and pharmacological studies revealed that this activity did not involve GLT-1 but most likely reflected an increase in GLAST-mediated uptake. Together, these data indicate that the addition of this classical combination of growth factors and nutriments drives the rapid differentiation toward a homogenous culture of fibrous astrocytes expressing functional glutamate transporters.     

Role of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Oligodendrocyte Differentiation

During development, the secreted molecule Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is required for lineage specification and proliferation of oligodendrocyte progenitors (OLPs), which are the glia cells responsible for the myelination of axons in the central nervous system (CNS). Shh signaling has been implicated in controlling both the generation of oligodendrocytes (OLGs) during embryonic development and their production in adulthood. Although, some evidence points to a role of Shh signaling in OLG development, its involvement in OLG differentiation remains to be fully determined. The objective of this study was to assess whether Shh signaling is involved in OLG differentiation after neural stem cell commitment to the OLG lineage. To address these questions, we manipulated Shh signaling using cyclopamine, a potent inhibitor of Shh signaling activator Smoothened (Smo), alone or combined with the agonist SAG in OLG primary cultures and assessed expression of myelin-specific markers. We found that inactivation of Shh signaling caused a dose-dependent decrease in myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) in differentiating OLGs. Co-treatment of the cells with SAG reversed the inhibitory effect of cyclopamine on both myelin-specific protein levels and morphological changes associated with it. Further experiments are required to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which Shh signaling regulates OLG differentiation.     

Expression of N-CAM polypeptides in neurons

N-CAM from rat brain consists of three polypeptides: 190,000 Mr (A), 140,000 Mr (B) and 120,000 Mr (C). It has been reported that cultured neurons express only A and B, whereas glial cultures synthesize mainly B and C. During postnatal development the relative biosynthesis of C increases. This could possibly reflect differentiation of neurons or an increased biosynthetic contribution of glial cells. We have investigated neuronal expression of N-CAM with the aim of determining whether neurons were able to synthesize the C-polypeptide. Biosynthetic labelling of explant cultures of peripheral ganglia and of chromaffin cells from adrenal medulla showed that cultured neurons synthesized not only A and B, but also C. However, the biosynthetic capacity for C production was low. Cell-free translation of microsomes from neuronal cell cultures showed that they contained a messenger RNA coding for C. Finally, retinal ganglion neurons expressed C when located in their natural environment as determined by biosynthetic labelling performed in living rats. Thus, both neurons and glial cells may be involved in the developmentally regulated change in C expression that occurs during postnatal life.     

Neonatal pancreatic cells redifferentiate into both neural and pancreatic lineages

Studies of islet neogenesis have suggested that the regeneration of islet cells can be achieved through redifferentiation of pre-existing islet cells. However, this hypothesis is largely unproven and fails to account for the diversity of observed islet neogenesis. Here we show that cultured neonatal pancreatic cells dedifferentiate into betaIII tubulin-expressing precursors, which then expand and redifferentiate into both neural and pancreatic lineage progenies. Redifferentiation happens not only in the islet cells, but also in the ductal cells that may represent what are called ductal origin "pancreatic stem cells". The in vitro redifferentiation of neonatal pancreatic cells recapitulates the embryonic development by sequential endocrine differentiation accompanied by the coexpression of neuronal marker betaIII tubulin with endocrine hormones until terminal differentiation. The neuronal differentiation of pancreatic cells, however, occurs prior to endocrine differentiation and gradually becomes dominant, thus implying a default neuronal lineage specification for cultured pancreatic cells.     

Role of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Protein Kinases 1 and 2 in Oligodendroglial Process Extension

Abstract: The relationship between extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) activation and process extension in cultured bovine oligodendrocytes (OLGs) was investigated. Process extension was induced through the exposure of cultured OLGs to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), for various intervals. During the isolation of these OLGs from bovine brain, the original processes were lost. Therefore, any reinitiation of process extension via PMA stimulation was easily discernible through morphological monitoring. It was found that exposure of OLGs to PMA for 10 min was enough to induce OLG process extension 24–72 h later. Furthermore, this extension was still evident at least 1 week after the initial PMA stimulation, indicating that OLGs do not need continuous PKC activation to sustain process extension. Control and PMA-stimulated OLGs were also subjected to immunocytochemistry using an anti-ERK antibody selective for the mitogen-activated protein kinases p42 Erk2 (ERK2) and p44 Erk1 (ERK1) isoforms. ERK immunoreactivity in the nucleus was evident after PMA stimulation of OLGs but not in control OLGs. In parallel experiments, the control and PMA-stimulated OLGs were purified by Mono Q fractionation and subjected to ERK phosphotransferase assays using [γ-³²P]ATP and either myelin basic protein (MBP) or a synthetic peptide substrate based on the Thr⁹⁷ phosphorylation site in MBP. These assays indicated that in PMA-treated OLGs, ERK activation was at least 12-fold higher than in control OLGs. Anti-ERK and anti-phosphotyrosine western blots of the assay fractions verified an enhanced phosphorylation of ERK1 and ERK2 in PMA-treated fractions relative to control fractions. When OLGs were pretreated for 15 min with the ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor PD 098059 before PMA stimulation, they exhibited a 67% decrease in ERK activation as compared with cells treated with PMA alone. Furthermore, these MEK inhibitor-pretreated cells were still viable but showed no process extensions up to 1 week later. Therefore, we propose that a threshold level of ERK activity is required for the initiation of OLG process extension.     

Neu and its ligands: From an oncogene to neural factors

Transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases that bind to peptide factors transmit essential growth and differentiation signals. A growing list of orphan receptors, of which some are oncogenic, holds the promise that many unknown ligands may be discovered by tracking the corresponding surface molecules. The neu gene (also called erbB-2 and HER-2) encodes such a receptor tyrosine kinase whose oncogenic potential is released in the developing rodent nervous system through a point mutation. Amplification and overexpression of neu are thought to contribute to malignancy of certain human adenocarcinomas. The search for soluble factors that interact with the Neu receptor led to the discovery of a 44 kDa glyco-protein that induces phenotypic differentiation of cultured mammary tumor cells to growth-arrested and milk-producing cells. The Neu differentiation factor (NDF or heregulin), however, also acts as a mitogen for epithelial, Schwann and glial cells. Multiple forms of the factor are produced by alternative splicing and their expression is confined predominantly to the central and to the peripheral nervous systems. One identified neuronal function of this family of polypeptides is to control the formation of neuromuscular junctions, but their physiological role in secretory epithelia is still unknown. Other open questions relate to the transmembrane topology of various precursors, the identity of a putative co-receptor, the possible existence of additional ligands of Neu and the functional significance of the interaction between Neu and at least three highly related receptor tyrosine kinases.