Premium
Autophagy Induced by the Withdrawal of Mitogens Promotes Neurite Extension in Rat Neural Stem Cells
Author(s) -
Chen Ye,
Zhao Lu,
Tian Xiaowei,
Liu Tingting,
Zhong Jiateng,
Sun Liankun,
Liu Jiamei
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.526
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0461
pISSN - 1095-6670
DOI - 10.1002/jbt.21496
Subject(s) - autophagy , neural stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , neurite , extension (predicate logic) , neuroscience , chemistry , stem cell , biology , computer science , biochemistry , apoptosis , in vitro , programming language
Neural stem cells (NSCs) are usually affected by a number of biological functions in neural traumatic and degenerative diseases. Autophagy may be involved in these diseases. However, whether autophagy could affect NSCs is largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate intracellular microstructures, proliferation, axon extension, and Beclin‐1 expression of rat NSCs by basic culture medium and conditioned medium without epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Transmission electron microscopy showed the formation of autophagic vacuoles in conditioned medium. Compared to the control group with normal medium, the number of secondary neurosphere was significantly reduced whereas the expression of Beclin‐1 was enhanced. The majority of NSCs were nestin‐positive when EGF/bFGF was withdrawn for 3 days and showed enhanced neurite extension, which was suppressed by autophagy antagonist 3‐methyladenine. Our findings revealed that a short‐term paucity of mitogens in microenvironments could induce autophagy of NSCs, which facilitated NSCs’ axonal growth. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J BiochemMol Toxicol 27:351‐356, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com . DOI 10.1002/jbt.21496