Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, 226001, China.
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China.
J Mol Neurosci. 2018 Jan;64(1):1-8. doi: 10.1007/s12031-017-0995-9. Epub 2017 Nov 13.
Neural crest (NC) cells are a multipotent cell population with powerful migration ability during development. C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) is a chemokine receptor implicated to mediate NC migration in various species, whereas the underlying mechanism is not well documented yet. PAX3 is a critical transcription factor for the formation of neural crest and the migration and differentiation of NCs. In this study, we retrieved a potential PAX3 binding element in the promoter of the CXCR4 gene, and we further found that PAX3 could promote the expression of CXCR4 and facilitate the migration of NCs. We finally demonstrated that PAX3 could bind the promoter region of CXCR4 and increase CXCR4 transcription by luciferase assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). These findings suggested that PAX3 is a pivotal modulator of NC migration via regulating CXCR4 expression.
神经嵴（NC）细胞是一种多能细胞群体，在发育过程中具有强大的迁移能力。C-X-C 趋化因子受体 4（CXCR4）是一种趋化因子受体，被认为在多种物种中介导 NC 迁移，但其潜在机制尚未得到充分记录。PAX3 是神经嵴形成以及 NC 迁移和分化的关键转录因子。在这项研究中，我们在 CXCR4 基因启动子中检索到一个潜在的 PAX3 结合元件，并且进一步发现 PAX3 可以促进 CXCR4 的表达并促进 NC 的迁移。我们最终通过荧光素酶报告基因检测和电泳迁移率变动分析（EMSA）证明，PAX3 可以结合 CXCR4 启动子区域并增加 CXCR4 的转录。这些发现表明，PAX3 通过调节 CXCR4 的表达是 NC 迁移的关键调节剂。
