Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Induction and Maintenance of the Neuronal Cholinergic Phenotype in the Central Nervous System by BMP-9

2000; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 289; Issue: 5477 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.289.5477.313

1095-9203

Ignacio López-Coviella, Brygida Berse, Raul Krauss, R. Scott Thies, Jan Krzysztof Blusztajn,

Pluripotent Stem Cells Research

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have multiple functions in the developing nervous system. A member of this family, BMP-9, was found to be highly expressed in the embryonic mouse septum and spinal cord, indicating a possible role in regulating the cholinergic phenotype. In cultured neurons, BMP-9 directly induced the expression of the cholinergic gene locus encoding choline acetyltransferase and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter and up-regulated acetylcholine synthesis. The effect was reversed upon withdrawal of BMP-9. Intracerebroventricular injection of BMP-9 increased acetylcholine levels in vivo. Although certain other BMPs also up-regulated the cholinergic phenotype in vitro, they were less effective than BMP-9. These data indicate that BMP-9 is a differentiating factor for cholinergic central nervous system neurons.