Glycosylation-related genes are variably expressed depending on the differentiation state of a bioaminergic neuronal cell line: implication for the cellular prion protein

A striking feature of the cellular prion protein (PrP^C) is the heterogeneity of its glycoforms, whose contribution to PrP^C function has yet to be defined. Using the 1C11 neuronal bioaminergic differentiation model and a glycomics approach, we show here a correlation between differential PrP^C N-glycosylations in 1C11^5-HT serotonergic and 1C11^NE noradrenergic cells compared to their 1C11 precursor cells and a variation of the glycogenome expression status in these cells. In particular, expression of genes involved in N-glycan synthesis or in the modeling of chondroitin and heparan sulfate proteoglycans appeared to be modulated. Our results highlight that, the expression of glycosylation-related genes is regulated during bioaminergic neuronal differentiation, consistent with a participation of glycoconjugates in neuronal development and plasticity. A neuronal regulation of glycosylation processes may have direct implications on some neurospecific functions of PrP^C and may participate in specific brain targeting of prion strains. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.