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Wnt Signaling Induces GLT‐1 Expression in Rat C6 Glioma Cells
Author(s) -
Palos Teresa P.,
Zheng Shuang,
Howard Bruce D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1999.0731012.x
Subject(s) - wnt signaling pathway , glutamate receptor , biology , glutamate aspartate transporter , transporter , rna , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , signal transduction , excitatory amino acid transporter , receptor
: The regulation of glial and neuronal Na + ‐dependent glutamate/aspartate transporters is of interest because abnormal glutamate transport may be responsible for certain neurological diseases. Because expression of the Wnt‐1 protooncogene results in induction of the glial‐type glutamate transporter GLAST in PC12 neuron‐like cells, we have evaluated the effect of Wnt‐1 ‐induced signaling on glutamate transporter expression in rat C6 glioma cells. C6 cells are known normally to express EAAC1, a neuronal glutamate transporter, but not the GLAST or the GLT‐1 glutamate transporter. C6 cells that ectopically expressed Wnt‐1 contained a GLT‐1 RNA species similar in size (> 10 kb) to the GLT‐1 transcript present in rat brain, and they also contained a previously unreported 3.3‐kb GLT‐1 RNA species. Both GLT‐1 RNAs contain large parts of the coding region. However, the 3.3‐kb GLT‐1 species contains at least one small deletion within the coding region. The Wnt‐1 ‐expressing C6 cells contained little, if any, GLT‐1 protein as determined by immunological techniques. We suggest that one or both of the GLT‐1 RNA species induced by Wnt‐1 either fail to be translated or yield abnormal translation products that are quickly degraded. Wnt‐1 ‐expressing C6 cells may thus represent a novel in vitro system for studying GLT‐1 transporter expression at the transcriptional and/or posttranscriptional levels.