RBP-J Deficiency Promoted The Proliferation and Differentiation of CD133-Positive Ependymal Cells In Vitro and In Vivo Studies

Abstract

Although the ependymal cells were reported to have the characteristics of neural stem cells (NSCs), the properties of CD133-ependymal cells have not been uncovered, in particular, it is largely unknown about the effect of Notch signaling pathway on the neurogenesis of CD133-positive ependymal cells. By using the transgenic mouse and primarily cultured ependymal cells, we found that the immunoreactivity for prominin-1/CD133 was exclusively localized in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and ependymal layer of ventricles, moreover, most CD133-positive ependymal cells were co-labeled with Nestin. In addition, RBP-J, a key nuclear effector of Notch signaling pathway, was highly active in CD133-positive ependymal cells. Our results demonstrated that CD133-positive ependymal cells can differentiate into the immature and mature neurons, in particular, the number of CD133-positive ependymal cells differentiating into the immature and mature neurons was significantly increased following the deficiency or interference of RBP-J in vivo or in vitro. By using real-time qPCR and Western blot, we found that RBP-J and Hes1 were down-regulated while Notch1 was up-regulated in the expression levels of mRNAs and proteins following the deficiency or interference of RBP-J in vivo or in vitro. These results demonstrated RBP-J deficiency promoted the proliferation and differentiation of CD133-positive ependymal cells. Therefore, we speculated that RBP-J could maintain CD133-positive ependymal cells in the characteristics of NSCs possibly by regulating Notch1/RBP-J/Hes1 pathway.