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O‐linked β‐N‐acetylglucosaminylation in mouse embryonic neural precursor cells
Author(s) -
Yanagisawa Makoto,
Yu Robert K.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.22170
Subject(s) - embryonic stem cell , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , kinase , transcription factor , neural stem cell , programmed cell death , serine , phosphatidylinositol , cell growth , protein kinase b , signal transduction , neuroepithelial cell , threonine , cellular differentiation , apoptosis , biochemistry , stem cell , phosphorylation , gene
In neural stem cells (NSCs), glycoconjugates and carbohydrate antigens are known not only to serve as excellent cell surface biomarkers for cellular differentiation and development but also to play important functional roles in determining cell fate. O‐linked β‐N‐acetylglucosamine (O‐GlcNAc), which modifies nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins on the serine and threonine residues, is also expected to play an important regulatory role. It is not known, however, whether O‐GlcNAc is expressed in NSCs or what the function of this expression is. In this study, we evaluated the patterns and possible functions of O‐GlcNAcylation in mouse embryonic neuroepithelial cells (NECs), which are known to be rich in NSCs. We confirmed the expression of O‐GlcNAc transferase, O‐GlcNAcase, and several O‐GlcNAcylated proteins in NECs. Treatment of NECs with O‐GlcNAcase inhibitors, PUGNAc and streptozotocin, induced robust accumulation of O‐GlcNAc in NECs and reduction of number of NECs. In O‐GlcNAcase inhibitor‐treated NECs, the Ras‐mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathway and the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase‐Akt pathway, important for proliferation and survival, respectively, were intact, but caspase‐3, an executioner for cell death, was activated. These results suggest the possibility that O‐GlcNAc is involved in cell death signaling in NECs. Furthermore, in NECs, we identified an O‐GlcNAc‐modified protein, Sp1 transcription factor. Our study is the first to evaluate expression and functions of O‐GlcNAc in NECs. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.