Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Physiology, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation, National Research Council, 95126, Catania, Italy.
J Mol Neurosci. 2021 May;71(5):963-971. doi: 10.1007/s12031-020-01716-3. Epub 2020 Sep 26.
Ghrelin (Ghre), a gut-brain peptide hormone, plays an important role in the entire olfactory system and in food behavior regulation. In the last years, it has aroused particular interest for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties. Our previous research showed that Ghre and its receptor are expressed by peculiar glial cells of the olfactory system: Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs). These cells are able to secrete different neurotrophic factors, promote axonal growth, and show stem cell characteristics. The aim of this work was to study, in an in vitro model, the effect of Ghre on both cell viability and the expression of some neural markers, such as Nestin (Ne), Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein (GFAP), Neuregulin (Neu), and β-III-tubulin (Tuj1), in primary mouse OEC cultures. The MTT test and immunocytochemical procedures were used to highlight cell viability and marker expression, respectively. Our results demonstrate that Ghre, after 7 days of treatment, exerted a positive effect, stimulating OEC viability compared with cells without Ghre treatment. In addition, Ghre was able to modify the expression of some biomarkers, increasing Neu and Tuj1 expression, while GFAP was constant; on the contrary, the presence of positive Ne cells was drastically reduced after 7 days, and this showed a loss of stem cell characteristic and therefore the possible orientation towards an adult neural phenotype.
胃饥饿素（Ghre）是一种肠脑肽激素，在整个嗅觉系统和食物行为调节中发挥着重要作用。近年来，它因其抗氧化、抗炎和抗细胞凋亡特性而引起了人们的特别关注。我们之前的研究表明，Ghre 及其受体由嗅觉系统中特有的神经胶质细胞——嗅鞘细胞（OECs）表达。这些细胞能够分泌不同的神经营养因子，促进轴突生长，并表现出干细胞特性。本研究旨在体外模型中研究 Ghre 对原代培养的小鼠 OEC 活力和某些神经标志物（如巢蛋白（Ne）、胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）、神经调节蛋白（Neu）和 β-III-微管蛋白（Tuj1））表达的影响。MTT 试验和免疫细胞化学程序分别用于突出细胞活力和标志物表达。我们的结果表明，Ghre 在治疗 7 天后产生了积极的影响，与未用 Ghre 处理的细胞相比，刺激 OEC 活力。此外，Ghre 能够改变一些生物标志物的表达，增加 Neu 和 Tuj1 的表达，而 GFAP 保持不变；相反，在 7 天后，阳性 Ne 细胞的数量急剧减少，这表明失去了干细胞特征，因此可能向成神经表型定向。
