Down-regulation of WNK1 protein kinase in neural progenitor cells suppresses cell proliferation and migration Article

Sun, X, Gao, L, Yu, RK et al. (2006). Down-regulation of WNK1 protein kinase in neural progenitor cells suppresses cell proliferation and migration . JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, 99(4), 1114-1121. 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.04159.x

cited authors

  • Sun, X; Gao, L; Yu, RK; Zeng, G

authors

abstract

  • WNK1, a Ser/Thr protein kinase, is widely expressed in many tissues. Its biological functions are largely unknown. Disruption of the WNK1 gene in mice leads to embryonic lethality at day 13, implicating a critical role of WNK1 in embryonic development. To investigate this potential function, we used antisense strategy to knock down the expression of WNK1 in a mouse neural progenitor cell line, C17.2. Down-regulation of WNK1 in C17.2 cells greatly reduced cell growth. Addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF), a mitogen for C17.2 cells, had no effect on growth. The WNK1-knockdown cells showed a flat and rounded morphology, characteristic of the immature and non-differentiated phenotype of the progenitor cells; this was further demonstrated by immunostaining for the progenitor and neuronal markers. Migration of the WNK1-knockdown C17.2 cells was reduced as tested in culture dishes or Matrigel-covered chambers. Moreover, activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1)/2 and ERK5 by EGF in the WNK1-knockdown cells was suppressed. These results demonstrate a novel function of WNK1 in proliferation, migration, and differentiation of neural progenitor cells, likely by mechanisms involving activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase ERK1/2 and/or ERK5 pathways. © 2006 The Authors.

publication date

  • November 1, 2006

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 1114

end page

  • 1121

volume

  • 99

issue

  • 4