Here we demonstrate that vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) is expressed in the developing central nervous system on neuroepithelial cells, which are the precursors of neurons and glia. As these cells differentiate, VCAM-1 is restricted to a subset of the glial population. An understanding of mechanisms responsible for this restricted pattern could provide insights into how lineage-specific gene expression is maintained during neural differentiation. As a model of neural differentiation, we turned to the P19 embryonic carcinoma cell line, which in response to retinoic acid will differentiate along a neural pathway. We show that VCAM-1 expression on the differentiating P19 cells resembles that in the central nervous system. Transfection of VCAM-1 gene promoter constructs into P19 cells revealed that the VCAM-1 gene is controlled sequentially by negative and positive elements during differentiation. We present evidence that early during differentiation, POU proteins block VCAM-1 gene activity; however, later in differentiation coincident with the appearance of VCAM-1 the pattern of POU proteins changes and the VCAM-1 gene promoter is activated. This activation is mediated through the NFB/rel complex p50/p65, which forms during P19 cell differentiation.

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. S. Williams, J. P. Mear, H.-C. Liang, S. S. Potter, B. J. Aronow, and M. C. Colbert Large-scale reprogramming of cranial neural crest gene expression by retinoic acid exposure Physiol Genomics, October 4, 2004; 19(2): 184 - 197. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Tu, V. R. Kelley, T. Collins, and F. S. Lee I{{kappa}}B Kinase Is Critical for TNF-{{alpha}}-Induced VCAM1 Gene Expression in Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells J. Immunol., June 1, 2001; 166(11): 6839 - 6846. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Feng and A. G. Porter NF-kappa B/Rel Proteins Are Required for Neuronal Differentiation of SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells J. Biol. Chem., October 22, 1999; 274(43): 30341 - 30344. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Lavie, F. Dandre, H. Louis, J.-M. D. Lamaziere, and J. Bonnet Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 Gene Expression during Human Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation Is Independent of NF-kappa B Activation J. Biol. Chem., January 22, 1999; 274(4): 2308 - 2314. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-L. Schwachtgen, J. E. Remacle, N. Janel, R. Brys, D. Huylebroeck, D. Meyer, and D. Kerbiriou-Nabias Oct-1 Is Involved in the Transcriptional Repression of the von Willebrand Factor Gene Promoter Blood, August 15, 1998; 92(4): 1247 - 1258. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. L. Jesse, R. LaChance, M. F. Iademarco, and D. C. Dean Interferon Regulatory Factor-2 Is a Transcriptional Activator in Muscle Where It Regulates Expression of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 J. Cell Biol., March 9, 1998; 140(5): 1265 - 1276. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]