Premium
Subpopulations of motor and sensory neurons respond differently to brain‐derived neurotrophic factor depending on the presence of the skeletal muscle
Author(s) -
Geddes Allison J.,
Angka Heather E.,
Davies Kimberley A.,
Kablar Boris
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.20877
Subject(s) - biology , neurotrophic factors , myf5 , neuroscience , brain derived neurotrophic factor , neurotrophin , glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor , tropomyosin receptor kinase b , programmed cell death , gdnf family of ligands , spinal cord , myod , receptor , endocrinology , skeletal muscle , myogenesis , genetics , apoptosis
The aim of our study was to assess the ability of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to rescue motor and sensory neurons from programmed cell death. It is clearly demonstrated that the administration of a single injection of a putative neurotrophic factor to mouse embryos in utero on embryonic day (E) 14.5 is sufficient to significantly reduce the death of motor neurons when assessed on E18.5. However, the trophic requirements of somatic neurons have not been unequivocally determined in a mammalian species in vivo. Indeed, the unexpectedly high numbers of surviving neurons observed in neurotrophin and tyrosine kinase receptor knockout mice are probably the consequence of functional redundancy between the neurotrophins and their receptors. We studied spinal cord and facial motor nucleus neurons and proprioceptive neurons in the dorsal root ganglion and mesencephalic nucleus. The action of BDNF was assessed in wild‐type fetuses to gain insight into its ability to rescue neurons from naturally occurring programmed cell death. In addition, we used Myf5 −/− :MyoD −/− embryos, which completely lack skeletal musculature, to assess the ability of BDNF to rescue neurons from excessively occurring programmed cell death. We found that BDNF differentially rescued neurons from naturally vs. excessively occurring cell death and that its ability to do so varied among neuronal subpopulations. Developmental Dynamics 235:2175–2184, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.