Regulation of Peripherin in Mouse Neuroblastoma and Rat PC 12 Pheochromocytoma Cell Lines

Abstract

Peripherin (formerly the Y protein) is found in the peripheral nervous system. This Triton-insoluble protein is characterized by its isoelectric point (5.6), its apparent molecular weight (56,000 daltons) and its peptidic map. Peripherin was also observed in a mouse neuroblastoma cell line, NIE 115, where its expression appeared regulated by the presence of an inducer of morphological differentiation. In order to analyze more precisely this control, the presence of peripherin was investigated in several neuroblastoma cell lines which exhibit different morphological patterns of differentiation and in the rat pheochromocytoma PC 12 cell line. Differentiation of these cells was induced with 1-methylcyclohexane carboxylic acid (CCA) and nerve growth factor (NGF), respectively. Peripherin was found in these different cell lines. Moreover, the cellular amount of peripherin appraised by [³⁵S]-methionine incorporation was significatively increased in differentiated cells. In contrast, other cytoskeletal components did not undergo a similar raise. The level at which the control of the peripherin content takes place was studied in a cell-free translation system. Poly(A)-rich RNAs extracted from growing or differentiated NIE 115 cells directed the synthesis of similar amounts of peripherin in a reticulocyte lysate. In contrast, polysomes prepared from differentiated cells and the corresponding polysomal RNA programmed in vitro the synthesis of twice more peripherin than polysomes or polysomal RNA from growth-phase cells. Since peripherin synthesis is enhanced 5 times in living cells, it seems probable that the cellular amount of peripherin is controlled partly at the translational level and partly at the turn-over level.

Differential expression of two neuronal intermediate-filament proteins, peripherin and the low-molecular-mass neurofilament protein (NF-L), during the development of the rat

“…Considering the disagreement between the authors who studied the expression of IFP in the olfactory neurons (Vollrath et al, 1985;Schwab et al, 1986;Talamo et al, 1989), it will be important to reconsider the problem. If peripherin is really the only IFP to be expressed there, it would be the only case where it is expressed alone, since we know that it is coexpressed with vimentin in mouse neuroblastoma cell lines (Portier et al, 1984a), with NFP in PC12 (Franke et al, 1986) and in the neuronal cell populations where it is expressed (Djabali, unpublished observations). A last point concerning the sensory neurons relates to the acoustic ganglia, whose origin has long been a matter of controversy (Halley, 1955;Batten, 1958;Deol, 1967Deol, , 1970D'Amico-Martel and Noden, 1983).…”

“…We, however, described another IFP with a molecular weight of about 57 kDa, which we had first observed in mouse neuroblastoma cell lines and which was also expressed in rat pheochromocytoma PC1 2 cell line. Interestingly, in the latter cell line, Y3-methionine incorporation into this protein is greatly enhanced when the cells are differentiated in the presence of NGF (Portier et al, 1984a). Biochemical analyses of extracts from different cell lines, primary cultures, and tissues showed that in the adult, this protein is expressed mostly in neurons from the PNS (Portier et al, 1984b); we then coined for it the word "peripherin."…”

Intermediate filaments are dynamic and motile elements of cellular architecture

“…Peripherin is abundantly expressed in developing motor neurons, in PC12 cells and in the mature neurons of the peripheral and enteric nervous systems (Leonard et al, 1988;Parysek and Goldman, 1987;Portier et al, 1983a;Portier et al, 1983b). Detailed analyses of a large number of nonfilamentous peripherin particles and squiggles in PC12 cells have revealed movements at >1 µm/s (see Table 1 and Fig.…”

Nerve growth factor-induced derepression of peripherin gene expression is associated with alterations in proteins binding to a negative regulatory element.

“…Peripherin mRNA levels are selectively induced by NGF and fibroblast growth factor and are only minimally increased after EGF exposure (<2-fold [42]). The peripherin gene encodes a neuronalspecific type III intermediate filament protein, first described by Portier et al (57), which is expressed in sympathetic, parasympathetic, and sensory ganglia of the peripheral nervous system and by a small subset of neurons in the central nervous system (42,56). During development, it is first expressed by day 11.5 of embryogenesis in the rat (days 9 to 9.5 of embryogenesis in the mouse) (16,22,68), corresponding to the time at which sympathetic ganglia first begin to form (1).…”