Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 May 23:13:758-63.

Expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and its tripartite receptor complex by cells of the human optic nerve head

Xiaochun Liu  1 , Abbot F Clark, Robert J Wordinger
Affiliations

Expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and its tripartite receptor complex by cells of the human optic nerve head

Xiaochun Liu et al. Mol Vis. .

Abstract

Purpose: Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) promotes gene expression, cell survival and differentiation in various types of peripheral and central neurons, glia and nonneural cells. The level of CNTF rises rapidly upon injury to neural tissue, suggesting that CNTF exerts its cytoprotective effects after release from cells via mechanisms induced by cell injury. The purpose of this study was to determine if cells in the optic nerve head express CNTF and its tripartite receptor complex.

Methods: Well-established optic nerve head astrocytes (ONHA) and lamina cribrosa (LC) cell cultures were derived from normal human donors. Total RNA was reverse transcribed and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified for mRNA detection. Cytoplasmic protein expression was determined by immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis of the cellular lysates. Serum free medium was concentrated and used for detecting extracellular proteins. CNTF complexed with CNTFR-alpha was assayed by immunoprecipitation.

Results: Cells isolated from the human optic nerve head express CNTF and its tripartite receptor complex members (CNTFR-alpha, gp130, LIFR-beta).

Conclusions: Taken together, these data suggest a possible neuroprotective role of CNTF in the optic nerve head.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ethidium bromide-stained agarose gel of ciliary neurotrophic factor and the ciliary neurotrophic factor tripartite receptor complex polymerase chain reaction products from optic nerve head cells. Lamina cribrosa cells are lanes 1-3, optic nerve head astrocytes (ONHA) are lanes 4-7, brain astrocytes are lane 8, and optic nerve head tissue (ONA tissue) is lane 9. C indicates negative control (i.e. no template reaction control). L indicates molecular size ladder. Each lane corresponds to an individual donor. Lamina cribrosa (LC) cells are from donors of 8 month old (8 mth LC), 66 year old (66 yr LC), and 90 year old (90 yr LC). ONHA cells are from donors of 36 week old (36 wk ONA), 66 year old (66 yr ONA), 89 year old (89 yr ONA), 90 year old (90 yr ONA). β-actin (350 bp) was included to monitor potential genomic DNA contamination.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemiluminescent detection of the ciliary neurotrophic factor tripartite receptor complex in optic nerve head cells. Western immunoblot of lamina cribrosa cell lysate (Lane 1) and optic nerve head astrocytes lysate (Lane 2).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Immunofluorescent localization of ciliary neurotrophic factor tripartite receptor complex proteins in optic nerve head cells. Lamina cribrosa cells are in A, C, and E and optic nerve head astrocytes are in plates B, D, and F. A and B are examples of ciliary neurotrophic factor-α staining of the cells; plates C and D correspond to LIFR-β cellular staining; E and F are representatives of gp130 staining of both cell types; G and H are examples of negative controls (primary antibody omitted).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Anti-ciliary neurotrophic factor western immunoblots of ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor-α immunoprecipitated proteins from lamina cribrosa cell and optic nerve head astrocyte lysates and cell culture medium. PC indicates positive control (recombinant ciliary neurotrophic factor protein). Lane 1 represents LC cells from a 90 year old donor; lane 2 represents optic nerve head astrocyte cells from a 66 year old donor; lane 3 represents ONHA cells from a 90 year old donor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lambert W, Agarwal R, Howe W, Clark AF, Wordinger RJ. Neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor expression by cells of the human lamina cribrosa. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2001;42:2315–23. - PubMed
    1. Hudgins SN, Levison SW. Ciliary neurotrophic factor stimulates astroglial hypertrophy in vivo and in vitro. Exp Neurol. 1998;150:171–82. - PubMed
    1. Ji JZ, Elyaman W, Yip HK, Lee VW, Yick LW, Hugon J, So KF. CNTF promotes survival of retinal ganglion cells after induction of ocular hypertension in rats: the possible involvement of STAT3 pathway. Eur J Neurosci. 2004;19:265–72. - PubMed
    1. Hibi M, Nakajima K, Hirano T. IL-6 cytokine family and signal transduction: a model of the cytokine system. J Mol Med. 1996;74:1–12. - PubMed
    1. Heinrich PC, Behrmann I, Haan S, Hermanns HM, Muller-Newen G, Schaper F. Principles of interleukin (IL)-6-type cytokine signalling and its regulation. Biochem J. 2003;374:1–20. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources