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Ca 2 + channel α 1 ‐ 1‐Subunit transcripts are differentially expressed in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells following nerve growth factor treatment
Author(s) -
Colston James T.,
Valdes James J.,
Chambers James P.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/s0736-5748(98)00036-7
Subject(s) - nerve growth factor , protein subunit , pheochromocytoma , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , endocrinology , biology , neuroscience , medicine , gene , genetics , receptor
Abstract In this report, we describe the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the transcriptional expression of voltage‐dependent Ca 2+ channel α 1 subunits, i.e., α 1A , α 1B , α 1C , α 1D , and α 1E in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Using reverse transcriptase‐coupled polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and class‐specific Ca 2+ channel oligonucleotide probes, messenger RNA levels were measured and compared to Histone H3.3 transcript which remained relatively constant over the duration of NGF treatment. Although no statistically significant differences in P‐type ( α 1A ) Ca 2+ channel transcript levels were observed, N‐type ( α 1B ) Ca 2+ channel transcript levels increased 50% over control values ( P values < 0.05) at days 7 and 14. In contrast, NGF treatment resulted in decreased levels of L‐type ( α 1C and α 1D ) transcripts with α 1C decreasing steadily to ∼50% of control ( P value < 0.01) by 2 weeks, while α 1D decreased to ∼20% of control ( P value < 0.01) after 2 days treatment. No α 1E Ca 2+ channel transcripts were detected in PC12 cells. For comparison, PC12 cells were also treated with another differentiative growth factor, i.e., basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and a nondifferentiative growth factor epidermal growth factor (EGF). In contrast to NGF, bFGF and EGF treatment had no inhibitory effect on L‐type ( α 1C and α 1D ) channel transcript levels after 3 days. Like NGF, EGF treatment had no statistically significant effect upon P‐type ( α 1A ) transcript levels but increased in a biphasic manner following bFGF treatment. Presynaptic‐associated α 1B (N‐type) Ca 2+ channel transcripts were observed decreased following EGF treatment (2 days) while L‐type α 1C transcripts decreased after 7 days ( P value < 0.01). Although a varied response to differentiative growth factors NGF and bFGF was observed, data presented here indicate that NGF treatment of PC12 cells results in late increased expression of N‐type Ca 2+ channel transcripts, while L‐type ( α 1C and α 1D ) Ca 2+ channel transcripts appear to be down regulated.