The neuronal differentiation process has been studied in great detail from many aspects. In the PC12 system, NGF was found to induce neuronal differentiation as measured by neurite extensions and neuronal marker expression. | Turk J Biol 29 (2005) 189-195 © TÜB‹TAK A Gene Expression Study of the TGF-β Signaling Pathway Components in Differentiating PC12 Cells Ifl›l AKSAN KURNAZ Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, 34755 26 A¤ustos Yerleflimi, Kay›flda¤›, ‹stanbul - TURKEY Received: Abstract: The neuronal differentiation process has been studied in great detail from many aspects. In the PC12 system, NGF was found to induce neuronal differentiation as measured by neurite extensions and neuronal marker expression. This effect was seen to be mainly conducted through the Ras/MAPK pathway; however, additional pathways are suspected to play a significant role in this cellular response. One such pathway is Smad signaling – NGF was previously reported to induce the expression of the TGF-β signal, although the physiological relevance of this was not completely understood. In this study, we analyzed the expression profiles of several TGF-β pathway components, in an attempt to understand the potential role of this pathway in NGF-induced differentiation of PC12 cells. Key Words: PC12, TGF-β, Smad, NGF, gene expression profiling, neuronal differentiation Farkl›laflan PC12 Hücrelerindeki TGF-β Sinyalleme Yola¤› Elemanlar›na Ait Bir Gen Anlat›m› Çal›flmas› Özet: Sinir hücresi farkl›laflmas› ifllemi pek çok aç›dan oldukça detayl› olarak çal›fl›lm›flt›r. PC12 sisteminde, NGF’in sinir hücresi farkl›laflmas›n› indükledi¤i hem nörit uzant›lar› hem de nöronal iflaret anlat›m› ölçülmek suretiyle gösterilmifltir. Bu etkinin ana olarak Ras/MAPK yola¤› taraf›ndan ortaya ç›kar›ld›¤› bilinmekle birlikte, baflka yolaklar›n da bu hücresel tepkide büyük rol oynad›¤›ndan flüphelenilmektedir. Bu yolaklardan bir tanesi Smad sinyallemesidir – NGF’in daha önce TGF-β sinyalinin anlat›m›na sebep oldu¤u gösterilmifltir ancak bunun fizyolojik önemi tam olarak anlafl›lamam›flt›r. Bu çal›flmada biz çeflitli TGF-β yolak elemanlar›n›n .
