A key role for Pak4 in proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitor cells

The Pak4 serine/threonine kinase regulates cytoskeletal organization, and controls cell growth, proliferation, and survival. Deletion of Pak4 in mice results in embryonic lethality prior to embryonic day 11.5. Pak4 knockout embryos exhibit abnormalities in the nervous system, the heart, and other tissues. In this study a conditional deletion of Pak4 was generated in order to study the function of Pak4 in the development of the brain. Nervous system-specific conditional deletion of Pak4 was accomplished by crossing mice with a floxed allele of Pak4 with transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase under the control of the nestin promoter. The conditional Pak4 knockout mice were born normally, but displayed growth retardation and died prematurely. The brains showed a dramatic decrease in proliferation of cortical and striatal neuronal progenitor cells. In vitro analyses revealed a reduced proliferation and self-renewing capacity of neural progenitor cells isolated from Pak4 knockout brains. The mice also exhibited cortical thinning, impaired neurogenesis and loss of neuroepithelial adherens junctions. By the time the mice died, by 4 weeks after birth, severe hydrocephalus could also be seen. These results suggest that Pak4 plays a critical role in the regulation of neural progenitor cell proliferation and in establishing the foundation for development of the adult brain.