Involvement of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase in Retinoic Acid-Induced Human Neuronal Differentiation

• Main Authors: Jin-Ran Hsu, 許景然
• Other Authors: Shur-Tzu Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/83769602770152889260

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 細胞生物及解剖學研究所 === 91 === Neuronal differentiation in the mammalian CNS is driven by multiple events. Mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) have been observed to play roles in neuronal development. It have been demonstrated that hNT-2 cells (NT2 cells), a cell-line derived from human teratocarcinoma, act as be a good model for study neuronal development. Following retinoic acid (RA) treatment, NT-2 cells can differentiate into postmitotic neuronal cells and express several mature neuronal markers. In this thesis, during period of RA induction, phosphorylated form of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases1/2 (ERK1/2; members of MAPKs) raised and cell aggregation was also observed at the 7th day after RA induction. In addition, co-treatment with RA and MEK1/2 inhibitor, U0126, phospho-ERK1/2 were down-regulated and cell aggregation was also abrogated, while no detectable change in cellular morphology and the expression of neurofilament middle-chain (NF-M) were observed. It implies that ERK1/2 may take participated in the process of RA-induced neuronal differentiation and in charge for cellular aggregation during neuronal development. Furthermore, the expression of N-cadherin, a cell adhesion molecule, is consistent with the alteration of phosphor-ERK1/2 level. These data indicate that ERK1/2 regulate the N-cadherin molecule expression to modulate cell aggregation. The results may provide a thought for further explore the physiological functions in the process of neuronal differentiation.