REGULATION OF THE SECRETORY PATHWAY IN A NEURONAL DIFFERENTIATION MODEL

LUCIANA SAMPIERI; IRIS A. GARCÍA; VANINA TORRES DEMICHELIS; HERNÁN MARTINEZ; CECILIA ALVAREZ

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LI Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

The secretory pathway is ubiquitious, however, its components can adapt to different physiological situations such as increased secretory demand or differentiation. One example of cell differentiation are developing neurons, where the secretory pathway must adapt to cope with size increasement and acquirement of plasma membrane proteins like neurotransmitter receptors. The mechanisms underlying this process of adaptation are still poorly understood. Our aim is to describe biochemical and morphological changes involving the secretory pathway during neuronal differentiation and to understand how they are regulated. We analyzed this process using PC12 cells, which are rat pheochromocytoma cells that can differentiate into neuron-like cells in response to Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). We have found that, after addition of NGF there is a time-dependent increasement in the levels of different components of the secretory pathway, such as Calreticulin and Calnexin (markers of the ER); proteins of the COPII Complex (ER Exit Sites); GM130 and GalNAc-T2 (Golgi Complex). We propose that, during PC12 cells differentiation, the secretory pathway undergoes a big adaptation process in order to respond to the high demand of its function. Our future goals are to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for this adaptation and to extend our studies to otherneuronal cell models.