俄亥俄州哥伦布市一项新的研究表明，成熟脑细胞表面的三种特定蛋白量的增加可促使细胞产生新的生长延伸。该研究探讨了小鼠脑神经细胞上的三个相关的受体蛋白：GPR3，GPR6和GPR12。当研究人员增加这三种蛋白的量后，细胞生长延伸比蛋白水平正常时的神经细胞的生长大三倍，延伸速度比对照细胞快4-8倍。俄亥俄州立大学医学中心的项目主持人Yoshinaga Saeki说，“我们的研究结果显示，这三种蛋白可能是用于治疗中风、脑和脊髓损伤及神经退行性疾病的重要靶点。”该研究刊登在4月6日的《生物化学杂志》（Journal of Biological Chemistry）上。
这些蛋白量的增加与神经细胞cAMP内的一种重要的信号分子的水平的增加有关。这个分子在调控神经细胞生长、分化和生存，以及传输神经冲动的轴突再生中起着关键作用。随着哺乳动物神经细胞的成熟，其细胞内的cAMP水平下降，这可以部分解释为什么成熟神经细胞受损的轴突不能再生。神经外科副教授、俄亥俄州州立dardinger神经肿瘤及神经科学实验室主管Saeki声称，“我们的发现为cAMP在轴突生长中起着重要作用这一观点提供了更多证据，并显示出这些受体蛋白可能在调节神经细胞cAMP的产生中起主要作用。”
该研究的第一作者Shigeru Tanaka是Saeki所在实验室的一名博士后研究员。在本项研究中，他与同事从小鼠与大鼠脑组织神经母细胞瘤中取得神经细胞，使之在培养基中生长以了解更多关于这三种蛋白及其调控cAMP生长中的作用。他们向这些细胞中注入三种基因以增加这三种蛋白的含量水平，然后用一种被称为核糖核酸干扰的实验室技术关闭这三种蛋白的产生。上述三个蛋白分子中GPR3在神经细胞中最为丰富，而GPR12刺激神经细胞延伸的作用最强。研究表明，阻断GPR3的产生会大大减慢神经细胞的生长速度，研究者们通过修复GPR3或GPR12的产生扭转了这种效应。三种蛋白质的含量水平高也与较高水平的cAMP有关，同时GPR6和GPR12能增加两倍到三倍的水平。
Saeki说，“总的来说，我们的研究结果显示，这三种蛋白能加快神经细胞的生长即使在抑制分子的存在下也是如此，我们迫切希望能找出可以在临床前中风或脊髓损伤动物模型身上重现此结果的方法。”
部分英文原文：
J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 282, Issue 14, 10506-10515, April 6, 2007
Neural Expression of G Protein-coupled Receptors GPR3, GPR6, and GPR12 Up-regulates Cyclic AMP Levels and Promotes Neurite Outgrowth*
Shigeru Tanaka, Ken Ishii, Kazue Kasai, Sung Ok Yoon¶, and Yoshinaga Saeki1
From the Dardinger Laboratory for Neuro-oncology and Neurosciences, Department of Neurological Surgery, ¶Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, and Center for Molecular Neurobiology, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
Cyclic AMP regulates multiple neuronal functions, including neurite outgrowth and axonal regeneration. GPR3, GPR6, and GPR12 make up a family of constitutively active G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that share greater than 50% identity and 65% similarity at the amino acid level. They are highly expressed in the central nervous system, and their expression in various cell lines results in constitutive stimulation of cAMP production. When the constitutively active GPCRs were overexpressed in rat cerebellar granule neurons in culture, the transfected neurons exhibited significantly enhanced neurite outgrowth and overcame growth inhibition caused by myelin-associated glycoprotein. GPR12-mediated neurite outgrowth was the most prominent and was shown to depend on Gs and cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Moreover, the GPR12-mediated rescue from myelin-associated glycoprotein inhibition was attributable to cAMP-dependent protein kinase-mediated inhibition of the small GTPase, RhoA. Among the three receptors, GPR3 was revealed to be enriched in the developing rat cerebellar granule neurons. When the endogenous GPR3 was knocked down, significant reduction of neurite growth was observed, which was reversed by expression of either GPR3 or GPR12. Taken together, our results indicate that expression of the constitutively active GPCRs up-regulates cAMP production in neurons, stimulates neurite outgrowth, and counteracts myelin inhibition. Further characterization of the GPCRs in developing and injured mammalian neurons should provide insights into how basal cAMP levels are regulated in neurons and could establish a firm scientific foundation for applying receptor biology to treatment of various neurological disorders.
Received for publication, January 31, 2007
* This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant R21 NS44514 (to Y. S.), the Gerlach Foundation, and the Dardinger Center Fund for Neuro-oncology Research at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, Ohio State University Medical Center. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental movies 1 and 2.
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dardinger Laboratory for Neuro-oncology and Neurosciences, Dept. of Neurological Surgery, Ohio State University Medical Center, 385B Wiseman Hall-CCC, 400 West 12th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210. Tel.: 614-292-3804; Fax: 614-688-4882; E-mail: saeki.6@osu.edu .
