| Abstract: | Evidence that stem cell factor (SCF) and c‐Kit receptor tyrosine kinase 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 6 to investigate the role of c‐Kit receptor and SCF in regulation of cell growth and viability in the postnatal cerebellar cells. SCF increased the number of survival cells and density of calbindin and GFAP expression in the immunoblot analysis. Treatment with c‐Kit antibody accelerated cellular loss in serum‐free media and decreased the expression of calbindin and GFAP. The recovery effects of SCF on the cellular proliferation and the expression of functional proteins in the cultures containing c‐Kit antibody suggest an involvement of SCF/Kit pathways in the control of postnatal development of cerebellar cells. |
