Neuregulin-β induces expression of an NMDA-receptor subunit

Miwako Ozaki, Michael Sasner, Ryoji Yano, Hsieng S. Lu and Andres Buonanno ()
Additional contact information
Miwako Ozaki: Unit on Molecular Neurobiology, LDN, Building 49, Room 5A-38, National Institutes of Health
Michael Sasner: Unit on Molecular Neurobiology, LDN, Building 49, Room 5A-38, National Institutes of Health
Ryoji Yano: Laboratory for Cellular Information Processing, Frontier Research Program, RIKEN
Hsieng S. Lu: Department of Protein Structure
Andres Buonanno: Unit on Molecular Neurobiology, LDN, Building 49, Room 5A-38, National Institutes of Health

Nature, 1997, vol. 390, issue 6661, 691-694

Abstract: Abstract Neuregulins (also known as ARIA, NDF, heregulin, GGF) are a family of widely expressed growth and differentiation factors. Neuregulins secreted from motor neurons accumulate at maturing neuromuscular junctions, where they stimulate transcription of genes encoding specific acetylcholine receptors. How these factors function at central synapses, however, is unknown. In the maturing cerebellum, neuregulins are concentrated in glutamatergic mossy fibres that innervate granule cells in the internal granule-cell layer1. We have analysed the effects of neuregulins on the expression of genes encoding NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors in the cerebellum, because receptor composition changes dramatically as expression of the receptor NR2C subunit is specifically induced in neurons in the internal granule-cell layer during synaptogenesis. Here we report that addition of a neuregulin-β isoform to cultured cerebellar slices specifically increases the expression of NR2C messenger RNAs by at least 100-fold; effects are only minor with a neuregulin-α isoform. This stimulation of NR2C expression requires synaptic activity by NMDA receptors, as well as neuregulin-β. Addition of the NMDA-receptor-channel blocker AP-5 prevents upregulation of the NR2C subunit by neuregulin, whereas an AMPA/kainate-receptor antagonist does not. Consistent with these effects of neuregulin, we find that granule cells express its receptors ErbB2 and ErbB4 before the NR2C subunit of the NMDA receptor. Our results indicate that neuregulins regulate the composition of neurotransmitter receptors in maturing synapses in the brain, in a manner analogous to the neuromuscular junction.

Date: 1997
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/37795 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:390:y:1997:i:6661:d:10.1038_37795

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/37795

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().