Aim: To research the relationship among CDK8, TGF-β/BMP signaling
pathway and apoptosis in nervous system. Methods: Mouse neuronal cells
(NE4C) were subcultured. CDK8 was overexpressed and silenced
(overexpressed plasmid was pcDNA3.1(+), silenced plasmid was
pGPU6-si103). The factors (TGF-β1, Smad2, Smad3, BMP6, BMP7, Smad1,
Smad5, Smad8) of TGF-β/BMP signaling pathway were detected by qRT-PCR.
Western blotting was used to test the caspase1 and caspase3. Resluts:
The overexpression of CDK8 can cause that TGF-β1, Smad2, Smad3, BMP6,
BMP7, Smad1, Smad5 and Smad8 were increased obviously. After CDK8
silencing, TGF-β1, Smad2, Smad3, BMP6, BMP7, Smad1 and Smad8 decreased,
except Smad5. The overexpression of CDK8 can lead to a rise of caspase1,
but caspase3 was only an upward trend. After CDK8 expressed silencing,
caspase1 increased significantly, and caspase3 tended to increasing.
Conclusion: In the nervous system, CDK8 positively regulates TGF-β/BMP
signaling pathway, and apoptosis is one of their downstream mechanisms.