Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor‐induced signaling in Schwann cells

• Published in: Journal of neurochemistry Vol. 94; no. 6; pp. 1488 - 1499
• Main Authors: Iwase, T., Jung, C. G., Bae, H., Zhang, M., Soliven, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.09.2005; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Agrin - metabolism; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Axons - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Communication - physiology; Cell differentiation, maturation, development, hematopoiesis; Cell division; Cell Line, Transformed; Cell physiology; Cells, Cultured; Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein - metabolism; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Ganglia, Spinal - metabolism; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; glial cells; Glycosylation; growth factors; Isolated neuron and nerve. Neuroglia; Membrane Microdomains - metabolism; Molecular and cellular biology; Myelin Sheath - metabolism; myelination; Nerve Growth Factors - metabolism; Nerve Regeneration - physiology; neural cell adhesion molecule; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules - metabolism; Neurons; Neurons, Afferent - metabolism; Protein Kinase C - metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; Rats; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - metabolism; Schwann Cells - metabolism; signal transduction; Signal Transduction - physiology; Tissues; Up-Regulation - drug effects; Up-Regulation - physiology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; glial cells; Neonatal; Rat; Neuroglia; neural cell adhesion molecule; glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor; Signal transduction; Schwann cell; Glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor; Biological effect; Biological receptor; Tyrosine; GFRα-1 receptor; growth factors; Enzyme; Transferases; Rodentia; Cell adhesion molecule; Survival; Cell motility; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Neuron; Kinase; myelination
• ISSN: 0022-3042; 1471-4159
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2005.03290.x

Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a known survival factor for neurons, has recently been shown to stimulate the migration of Schwann cells (SCs) and to enhance myelination. GDNF exerts its biological effects by activating the Ret tyrosine kinase in the presence of glycosylphosphatidylinositol‐linked receptor, GDNF family receptor (GFR) α1. In Ret‐negative cells, the alternative transmembrane coreceptor is the 140‐kDa isoform of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) associated with a non‐receptor tyrosine kinase Fyn. We confirmed that GDNF, GFRα1 and NCAM are expressed in neonatal rat SCs. We found that GDNF induces an increase in the partitioning of NCAM and heparan sulfate proteoglycan agrin into lipid rafts and that heparinase inhibits GDNF‐signaling in SCs. In addition to activation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinases, and phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein, we found that cAMP‐dependent protein kinase A and protein kinase C are involved in GDNF‐mediated signaling in SCs. Although GDNF did not promote the differentiation of purified SCs into the myelinating phenotype, it enhanced myelination in neuron–SC cocultures. We conclude that GDNF utilizes NCAM signaling pathways to regulate SC function prior to myelination and at early stages of myelin formation.