Zhang S C, Fedoroff S
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
J Neurosci Res. 1997 Jan 1;47(1):1-15.
We have characterized the cellular localization of stem cell factor (SCF) and c-kit receptor (c-kitR) in the adult mouse nervous system in situ and in culture by using immunocytochemistry. We found that SCF is largely confined to the neuronal population in normal brain, whereas c-kitR is expressed by glial cells as well as some neurons. We also found that astroglia at an early stage of culture (7 days in vitro) are strongly SCF positive and weakly c-kitR positive. Microglia in cultures express both SCF and c-kitR, but the immunostaining of SCF is weak and diffuse when microglia are cultured in the presence of colony stimulating factor-1. Northern blot analysis confirmed the expression of mRNAs of c-kit and SCF in cultured neurons, astroglia, and microglia. The addition of recombinant SCF to astroglia in culture upregulates the expression of mRNAs of nerve growth factor, brain derived neurotrophic factor, and ciliary neurotrophic factor. These observations suggest that SCF/c-kitR signaling is involved in neuron-neuron as well as neuron-glia interactions.
我们通过免疫细胞化学方法，对成年小鼠神经系统中干细胞因子（SCF）和c-kit受体（c-kitR）的细胞定位进行了原位及体外培养研究。我们发现，在正常脑内，SCF主要局限于神经元群体，而c-kitR则由胶质细胞以及一些神经元表达。我们还发现，培养早期（体外培养7天）的星形胶质细胞SCF呈强阳性，c-kitR呈弱阳性。培养的小胶质细胞同时表达SCF和c-kitR，但当小胶质细胞在集落刺激因子-1存在的情况下培养时，SCF的免疫染色较弱且弥散。Northern印迹分析证实了c-kit和SCF的mRNA在培养的神经元、星形胶质细胞和小胶质细胞中的表达。向培养的星形胶质细胞中添加重组SCF可上调神经生长因子、脑源性神经营养因子和睫状神经营养因子的mRNA表达。这些观察结果表明，SCF/c-kitR信号通路参与了神经元-神经元以及神经元-胶质细胞的相互作用。
