Browsing by Subject "radial glial cells"

The human cerebral cortex is characteristically large and folded, which can be majorly attributed to the high number and variety of neural progenitors during embryonic development. Radial glial cells are essential neural progenitors during neurogenesis. In addition to giving rise to new cell types, they also provide scaffold for migrating newborn neurons. Radial glia are known to portray peculiar characteristics in their cell division process, including unique migratory behavior as well as specifically regulated cleavage furrow orientation. While these processes of radial glial division have been studied extensively, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still largely unknown. ABBA (actin-bundling protein with BAIAP2 homology) and NEDD9 (neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally downregulated 9) are proteins, which are both known to be expressed in certain radial glia progenitors during embryonic development, while they are mainly absent in neurons. ABBA has a defined role of regulating plasma membrane deformation and actin polymerization in radial glia, while NEDD9 expression levels are a known factor in the correct progression from mitosis to cytokinesis. An interaction between ABBA and NEDD9 has previously been identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen done for the embryonic mouse brain. The aim of this thesis was to validate the interaction between ABBA and NEDD9 biochemically. First, their interaction was evaluated by doing co-immunoprecipitation assays on the endogenous proteins from C6 cells. The second approach was to test, whether their interaction is directly mediated by the N-terminal SH3-domain of NEDD9 and the proline-rich C-terminal portion of ABBA. This was done by doing biochemical binding assays using purified proteins and domains of interest. While co-immunoprecipitation of the two proteins gave results indicating an interaction, I could show that there is no direct binding between NEDD9 SH3-domain and ABBA, suggesting that the interaction might require other domains or be indirect. Together, these results provide valuable information that will help characterize what roles of ABBA and NEDD9 play in cortical development and beyond.