Premium
High levels of Cellular Prion Protein improve astrocyte development
Author(s) -
Hartmann Camila Arantes,
Martins Vilma Regina,
Lima Flavia Regina Souza
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2012.11.032
Subject(s) - astrocyte , glial fibrillary acidic protein , nestin , microbiology and biotechnology , programmed cell death , vimentin , biology , neural stem cell , neuroprotection , stem cell , apoptosis , biochemistry , central nervous system , immunology , immunohistochemistry , neuroscience
Prion protein (PrP C ) has neuroprotective functions and herein we demonstrate that astrocytes from PrP C ‐over‐expressing mice are more resistant to induced cell death than wild‐type astrocytes. The Stress‐Inducible‐Protein 1 (STI1), a PrP C ligand, prevents cell death in both wild‐type and PrP C ‐over‐expressing astrocytes through the activation of protein‐kinase‐A. Cultured embryonic astrocytes and brain extracts from PrP C ‐over‐expressing mice show higher glial fibrillary acidic protein expression and reduced vimentin and nestin levels when compared to wild‐type astrocytes, suggesting faster astrocyte maturation in the former mice. Our data indicate that PrP C levels modulate astrocyte development, and that PrP C –STI1 interaction contributes to protect against astrocyte death.