GDNF/GFRα1 Complex Abrogates Self-Renewing Activity of Cortical Neural Precursors Inducing Their Differentiation.

Stem Cell Reports

Division of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience (IBCN)-CONICET-UBA, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires CP 1121, Argentina. Electronic address:

Published: March 2018

AI Article Synopsis

  • The balance of proliferation and differentiation in cortical neural precursors (CNPs) is crucial for proper cortical development.
  • GDNF and its receptor GFRα1 are found in the neocortex during neurogenesis, where they inhibit the self-renewal of CNPs and promote their differentiation into neurons.
  • Research shows that GDNF treatment decreases CNP proliferation and alters neuronal morphology, indicating that GDNF/GFRα1 signaling is key to managing the growth and development of cortical progenitor cells.

Article Abstract

The balance between factors leading to proliferation and differentiation of cortical neural precursors (CNPs) determines the correct cortical development. In this work, we show that GDNF and its receptor GFRα1 are expressed in the neocortex during the period of cortical neurogenesis. We show that the GDNF/GFRα1 complex inhibits the self-renewal capacity of mouse CNP cells induced by fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), promoting neuronal differentiation. While GDNF leads to decreased proliferation of cultured cortical precursor cells, ablation of GFRα1 in glutamatergic cortical precursors enhances its proliferation. We show that GDNF treatment of CNPs promoted morphological differentiation even in the presence of the self-renewal-promoting factor, FGF2. Analysis of GFRα1-deficient mice shows an increase in the number of cycling cells during cortical development and a reduction in dendrite development of cortical GFRα1-expressing neurons. Together, these results indicate that GDNF/GFRα1 signaling plays an essential role in regulating the proliferative condition and the differentiation of cortical progenitors.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5918270PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.01.019DOI Listing

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