CMX-8933, a peptide fragment of the glycoprotein ependymin, promotes activation of AP-1 transcription factor in mouse neuroblastoma and rat cortical cell cultures.

Abstract

An 8-amino acid peptide fragment (CMX-8933) of Ependymin, a glycoprotein component of the extracellular fluid and cerebrospinal fluid of goldfish brain, was synthesized and tested for its capacity to activate AP-1 transcription factor in cell cultures. Dose-response and time-course studies of AP-1's binding to DNA were carried out in neuroblastoma (NB2a/dl) and primary rat brain cortical cultures using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). A 13-14-fold increase in AP-1's DNA binding was obtained when NB2a cells were incubated for 4 h with 6-10 microg/ml CMX-8933. Primary rat brain cortical cultures were much more sensitive to the effects of CMX-8933 than transformed (NB2a) cultures; here a 26.7+/-5.2-fold increase in binding was observed following a 3-h treatment with as little as 10 ng/ml peptide. These findings are consistent with an activation of this transcription factor, a characteristic that has been previously correlated with functional aspects of full-sized neurotrophic factors (nerve growth factor and brain-derived nerve growth factor) in neuronal differentiation and regeneration. Such data suggest a role for Ependymin in transcriptional control.

• Authors: V E Shashoua, D Adams, A Boyer-Boiteau
• Journal: Neuroscience letters (Neurosci Lett) Vol. 312 Issue 2 Pg. 103-7 (Oct 19 2001) ISSN: 0304-3940 [Print] Ireland
• PMID: 11595345 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• CMX8933
• Nerve Tissue Proteins
• Peptide Fragments
• Transcription Factor AP-1
• ependymins

Topics

• Animals
• Animals, Newborn
• Brain (drug effects, growth & development, metabolism)
• Cerebral Cortex (drug effects, metabolism)
• Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
• Mice
• Nerve Tissue Proteins (metabolism, pharmacology)
• Neuroblastoma
• Neuronal Plasticity (drug effects, physiology)
• Neurons (cytology, drug effects, metabolism)
• Peptide Fragments (isolation & purification, pharmacology)
• Rats
• Transcription Factor AP-1 (drug effects, metabolism)
• Transcriptional Activation (drug effects, physiology)
• Tumor Cells, Cultured (drug effects, metabolism)