Biomedical subjects

Karin Forsberg-Nilsson

Publications and source records attributed to Karin Forsberg-Nilsson.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Autocrine/paracrine platelet-derived growth factor regulates proliferation of neural progenitor cells.

Growth factors play an important role in regulating neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation. This study shows that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) induces a partial differentiation of neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) in the absence of other mitogens in vitro. NSPCs thus acquire an immature morphology and display markers for both neurons and glia. In addition, these cells do not readily mature in the absence of further stimuli. When NSPC cultures treated with PDGF were exposed to additional differentiation factors, however, the differentiation proceeded into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. We find that NSPC cultures are endowed with an endogenous PDGF-BB production. The PDGF-BB expression peaks during early differentiation and is present both in cell lysates and in conditioned medium, allowing for autocrine as well as paracrine signaling. When the NSPC-derived PDGF was inhibited, progenitor cell numbers decreased, showing that PDGF is involved in NSPC expansion. Addition of a PDGF receptor (PDGFR) inhibitor resulted in a more rapid differentiation. Neurons and oligodendrocytes appeared earlier and had more elaborate processes than in control cultures where endogenous PDGFR signaling was not blocked. Our observations point to PDGF as an inducer of partial differentiation of NSPC that also sustains progenitor cell division. Such an intermediate stage in stem cell differentiation is of relevance for the understanding of brain tumor development because autocrine PDGF stimulation is believed to drive malignant conversion of central nervous system progenitor cells.

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PubMed2006

Central nervous system stem/progenitor cells form neurons and peripheral glia after transplantation to the dorsal root ganglion.

We asked whether neural stem/progenitor cells from the cerebral cortex of E14.5 enhanced green fluorescent protein transgenic mice are able to survive grafting and differentiate in the adult rat dorsal root ganglion. Neurospheres were placed in lumbar dorsal root ganglion cavities after removal of the dorsal root ganglia. Alternatively, dissociated neurospheres were injected into intact dorsal root ganglia. Enhanced green fluorescent protein-positive cells in the dorsal root ganglion cavity were located in clusters and expressed beta-III-tubulin or glial fibrillary acidic protein after 1 month, whereas after 3 months, surviving grafted cells expressed only glial fibrillary acidic protein. In the intact adult DRG, transplanted neural stem/progenitor cells surrounded dorsal root ganglion cells and fibers, and expressed glial but not neuronal markers. These findings show that central nervous system stem/progenitor cells can survive and differentiate into neurons and peripheral glia after xenotransplantation to the adult dorsal root ganglion.

Actins↗

PubMed2006

The gene expression profile of PDGF-treated neural stem cells corresponds to partially differentiated neurons and glia.

We have previously shown that platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA) stimulates the expansion of neuronal progenitors from neural stem cells, but is unable to replace fibroblast-growth factor 2 (FGF-2) as a stem cell mitogen. In the present study, we compared gene expression in neural stem cells that were grown in the presence of FGF-2 and in cells cultured with PDGF-AA or in the absence of growth factor, which induces differentiation. The genetic program elicited by PDGF-AA (156 significantly regulated genes) was not unique, but an intermediate between the ones of FGF-2-cultured stem cells and differentiated cells. These observations are compatible with the hypothesis that PDGF-AA induces a partial differentiation of neural stem cells, which retain the ability to proliferate, rather than acting solely as an instructing agent for neuronal differentiation. Finally, the transcriptional signature of stem cells grown with FGF-2 included a large number of genes over-expressed in gliomas and a core set of conserved genes periodically expressed during the eukaryote cell cycle.

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PubMed2005

Gli1 is not required for Pdgfralpha expression during mouse embryonic development.

Pdgfra is expressed in the mesenchyme of multiple organs during embryonic development and Pdgfralpha is involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis in many tissues. A fine-tuned regulation of gene transcription is required to achieve these effects. To investigate if the Shh signaling pathway is involved in the tightly regulated Pdgfra expression during embryogenesis, we systematically compared Gli1 and Pdgfralpha mRNA expression patterns in vivo from mouse embryonic day 9.5 to 14.5. We found that an initial partly overlapping expression of Gli1 and Pdgfralpha in the mesenchyme of foregut and somites was changed to different expression patterns when the mesenchyme differentiated into specialized structures such as intestinal villi and chondrocytes. Gli1 and Pdgfra were also expressed differently in the developing lung, heart, central nervous system, skin, tooth, and eye. Importantly, neither Pdgfralpha mRNA patterns nor levels were altered in Ihh mutant embryos although Gli1 and Ptc mRNA levels were dramatically reduced. Our results demonstrate that Gli1 is not required to induce Pdgfra expression during embryonic bone development, and are consistent with previous findings that Pdgfralpha and Hh pathways serve different functions in, e.g., bone, gut, and lung development. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that Glis can have more complex regulatory effects on Pdgfra gene activity, nor can we exclude such effects in pathological conditions.

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PubMed2004

Stem cell factor is a chemoattractant and a survival factor for CNS stem cells.

Migration of neural cells to their final positions is crucial for the correct formation of the central nervous system. Several extrinsic factors are known to be involved in the regulation of neural migration. We asked if stem cell factor (SCF), well known as a chemoattractant and survival factor in the hematopoietic lineage, could elicit similar responses in neural stem cells. For that purpose, a microchemotaxis assay was used to study the effect of SCF on migration of neural stem cells from the embryonic rat cortex. Our results show that SCF-induced chemotaxis and that specific antibodies to SCF or tyrosine kinase inhibitors abolished the migratory response. The SCF-receptor, Kit, was expressed in neural stem cells and in their differentiated progeny. We also show that SCF is a survival factor, but not a mitogen or a differentiation factor for neural stem cells. These data suggest a role for SCF in cell migration and survival in the developing cortex.

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PubMed2003

Oligodendrocyte precursor hypercellularity and abnormal retina development in mice overexpressing PDGF-B in myelinating tracts.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) influences the generation of neurons and glia during embryogenesis and in early postnatal life. In an attempt to determine the consequences of an overexpression of PDGF-B during the first weeks of life, we targeted transgenic expression of a human PDGF-B cDNA to myelinating tracts using the promoter region of the myelin basic protein (MBP) gene. Transgenic mRNA and protein were expressed in the brain and the expression profile of the human PDGF-B during early postnatal development closely paralleled that of the endogenous mouse MBP gene. The gross morphological appearance of transgenic brains was normal but at the cellular level several phenotypic alterations could be identified. In white matter tracts such as the corpus callosum and cerebellar medulla, there was a marked hypercellularity. The number of oligodendrocyte precursors was increased and astrocytes were more abundant. In adult mice carrying the MBP-PDGF-B transgene, however, myelination appeared normal and the amount of oligodendrocytes was similar to that of control littermates. In addition to the phenotypic alterations in the brain, investigation of eye structure revealed a striking disorganization of retinal architecture. The retina was folded with cells collected in papillar or follicular-like structures. Retinal whole mount preparations after India ink perfusion revealed capillary disorganization with large-caliber vessels supporting only a few fine branches. Our observations strengthen the notion that PDGF is an important effector molecule in postnatal CNS development.

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PubMed2003

Overexpression of semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase in smooth muscle cells leads to an abnormal structure of the aortic elastic laminas.

Elevated semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) activity has been observed in several human conditions, eg, diabetes, and it has been speculated that SSAO contributes to the development of vasculopathies associated with this disease. To investigate in vivo consequences of elevated expression of SSAO in vascular tissues, we have developed a transgenic model for overexpression of human SSAO in mice. A smooth muscle-specific promoter, smooth muscle alpha-actin promoter 8 (SMP8) was used. Transgenic expression of human SSAO in tissues with a high content of smooth muscle cells was confirmed by Northern blot analysis. Enzymatic analysis of homogenates from transgenic tissues showed elevated levels of SSAO activity compared to non-transgenic littermates. Furthermore, when plasma SSAO activity was analyzed, much higher activity was detected compared to plasma from control mice, indicating that plasma SSAO may originate from smooth muscle cells. Histopathological evaluation of aorta and renal artery from transgenic mice revealed an abnormal structure of the elastin tissue. Instead of the regularly folded elastic laminae normally found in tunica media of sacrificed mice, the elastic laminae were straight and unfolded with irregularly arranged elastic fibers, forming tangled webs, between the intercalating elastic laminae. These alterations of the elastin structures suggest that overexpression of SSAO has led to a reduced elasticity of the arteries. Moreover, the mean femoral arterial pressure of the SMP8 SSAO transgenic mice was significantly lower in comparison to non-transgenic littermates. This suggests that the transgenic mice have a defect in their ability to regulate blood pressure.

Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing)↗

PubMed2002

Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase signaling is uncoupled from initial differentiation of central nervous system stem cells to neurons.

Knowledge about signaling pathways in response to external signals is needed to understand the regulation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation toward particular cell fates. The Ras/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway has been suggested to play an essential role in neuronal differentiation. We have examined ERK signaling in the transition from multipotent stem cell to post-mitotic progeny using primary stem cells from the rat embryonic cortex. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is a stem cell mitogen, whereas platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA) expands a pool of committed neuronal precursors from stem cells. When comparing ERK activation by these growth factors, we found that FGF-2 stimulates high and PDGF-AA lower levels of ERK phosphorylation in stem cells. Differentiation was monitored as down-regulation of the bHLH transcription factor mammalian achaete-scute homologue-1 (MASH1). Even in the absence of active ERK, MASH1 became down-regulated and microtubule-associated protein 2-positive cells could form. Thus, ERK activation seems dispensable for the earliest steps of CNS stem cell differentiation.

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