TGF-beta and Notch pathway in cell fate decisions of adult neural stem cells from the subventricular zone

L. GÓMEZ PINTO; P. MATHIEU; A. ADAMO

Congreso; XXX Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2015

Adult neural stem cells (aNSC) are capable of differentiating into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes throughout life. Notch and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta) signaling pathways play critical roles in controlling cell fate. It has been previously reported that TGF-beta is pro-neurogenic on hippocampal and subventricular zone (SVZ) aNSC and that it might interact with Notch pathway in different cellular types. Therefore, the aim of our work was to study the effect of this cytokine on glial differentiation of aNSC from SVZ and its interaction with the Notch pathway. In order to study TGF-beta and Notch pathway interaction in aNSC, we cultured cells obtained from SVZ of adult Wistar rats. After 48h plating, cells were fixed and immunocytochemically analyzed. Most cells were Nestin- and GFAP-positive, whereas a low percentage of cells expressed oligodendroglial markers such as PDGFR-alpha or NG2, and less than 1% were positive for a neuronal marker. aNSC treatment with TGF-beta during four days significantly increased the percentage of PDGFR-alpha- and NG2- positive cells, demonstrating the glial differentiating effect of this cytokine on neural progenitor cells of the adult SVZ. These results show the impact of TGF-beta on cell fate decisions of aNSC from SVZ. We are currently exploring the effect of TGF-beta on cell phenotype in the presence of a gamma-secretase inhibitor blocking Notch signaling.