First Author | Suzuki N | Year | 2014 |
Journal | FASEB J | Volume | 28 |
Issue | 3 | Pages | 1386-97 |
PubMed ID | 24344332 | Mgi Jnum | J:211487 |
Mgi Id | MGI:5575577 | Doi | 10.1096/fj.13-241034 |
Citation | Suzuki N, et al. (2014) Teneurin-4 promotes cellular protrusion formation and neurite outgrowth through focal adhesion kinase signaling. FASEB J 28(3):1386-97 |
abstractText | Teneurin-4 (Ten-4), a transmembrane protein, is highly expressed in the central nervous system; however, its cellular and molecular function in neuronal differentiation remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the function of Ten-4 in neurite outgrowth. Ten-4 expression was induced during neurite outgrowth of the neuroblastoma cell line Neuro-2a. Ten-4 protein was localized at the neurite growth cones. Knockdown of Ten-4 expression in Neuro-2a cells decreased the formation of the filopodia-like protrusions and the length of individual neurites. Conversely, overexpression of Ten-4 promoted filopodia-like protrusion formation. In addition, knockdown and overexpression of Ten-4 reduced and elevated the activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and Rho-family small GTPases, Cdc42 and Rac1, key molecules for the membranous protrusion formation downstream of FAK, respectively. Inhibition of the activation of FAK and neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (N-WASP), which is a downstream regulator of FAK and Cdc42, blocked protrusion formation by Ten-4 overexpression. Further, Ten-4 colocalized with phosphorylated FAK in the filopodia-like protrusion regions. Together, our findings show that Ten-4 is a novel positive regulator of cellular protrusion formation and neurite outgrowth through the FAK signaling pathway. |