| Abstract No.: | B-A2020 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | TRANSCRIPTIONAL ACTIVATION OF B3GALT2 GENE IN RAT CORTICAL NEURONS REQUIRES ACTIVATION OF ERK AND MSK1 KINASES AND PHOSPHORYLATION OF HISTONE H3 |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 2 Hung Fang*; 2 Jing Bi; 1 Luke Wan;
1 Department of Pharmacology, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada; 2 NRC, Institute for Biological Sciences, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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| Content: | Glycosylation plays a pivotal role in development, differentiation, and malignancy. Glycosyltransferases are enzymes that catalyze transfer of carbohydrate groups from donors to acceptors. Expression of a galactosyltransferase gene, UDP-Gal:ß GlcNAc ß- 1,3-galactosyltransferase (B3galt2), is developmentally regulated in the mammalian brain and deletion of the gene leads to behavioral abnormalities. Our previous work has shown that the transcription factor CREB and both CaMK(s) and ERK1/2 signaling pathways are involved in an enhanced B3galt2 gene expression in rat cortical neurons induced by plasma membrane depolarization. Objectives: in this study, the pathways linking plasma membrane depolarization to transcriptional activation of the B3galt2 gene were further investigated.
Methods and Materials: Q-PCR, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry were used to examine B3galt2 gene expression and phosphorylation of ERK, MSK1 and Histone H3 in rat cerebral cortical cultures and the mouse hippocampus. Results: correlations among a rapid, ERK-dependent MSK1 activation in nuclei, phosphorylation of serine 10 of the histone H3, and B3galt2 gene induction were identified. Conclusion: an ERK-dependent chromatin remodeling mechanism likely is involved in the transcriptional activation of B3galt2 gene in the brain. |
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