Article
- The EMBO Journal (2004) 23, 1998 - 2008
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600202
Published online: 15 April 2004
Subject Categories:
Meteorin: a secreted protein that regulates glial cell differentiation and promotes axonal extension
Jinsuke Nishino1,2, Kimiyo Yamashita1,2, Hiromi Hashiguchi1,2, Hideta Fujii1,2,a, Takuya Shimazaki3 and Hiroshi Hamada1,2
- Developmental Genetics Group, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, Japan
- CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST), Japan
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Correspondence to:
Hiroshi Hamada, Institute for Molecular & Cellular Biology, Osaka University, 1–3 Yamadaoka, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Tel.: +81 6 879 7994; Fax: +81 6 878 9846; E-mail: hamada@fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp
Jinsuke Nishino, Institute for Molecular & Cellular Biology, Osaka University, 1–3 Yamadaoka, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Tel.: +81 6 879 7994; Fax: +81 6 878 9846; E-mail: jnishino@gen-info.osaka-u.ac.jp
aPresent address: National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8502, Japan
Received 16 December 2003; Accepted 15 March 2004
Abstract
Glial cells are major components of the nervous system. The roles of these cells are not fully understood, however. We have now identified a secreted protein, designated Meteorin, that is expressed in undifferentiated neural progenitors and in the astrocyte lineage, including radial glia. Meteorin selectively promoted astrocyte formation from mouse cerebrocortical neurospheres in differentiation culture, whereas it induced cerebellar astrocytes to become radial glia. Meteorin also induced axonal extension in small and intermediate neurons of sensory ganglia by activating nearby satellite glia. These observations suggest that Meteorin plays important roles in both glial cell differentiation and axonal network formation during neurogenesis.
Keywords:
- axonal extension,
- glial differentiation,
- secreted protein
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