Cell recognition molecule L1 promotes embryonic stem cell differentiation through the regulation of cell surface glycosylation

Ying Li, Xiaohua Huang, Yue An, Feng Ren, Zara Zhuyun Yang, Hongmei Zhu, Lei Zhou, Xiaowen He, Melitta Schachner, Zhi-Cheng Xiao, Keli Ma, Yali Li

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cell recognition molecule L1 (CD171) plays an important role in neuronal survival, migration, differentiation, neurite outgrowth, myelination, synaptic plasticity and regeneration after injury. Our previous study has demonstrated that overexpressing L1 enhances cell survival and proliferation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) through promoting the expression of FUT9 and ST3Gal4, which upregulates cell surface sialylation and fucosylation. In the present study, we examined whether sialylation and fucosylation are involved in ESC differentiation through L1 signaling. RNA interference analysis showed that L1 enhanced differentiation of ESCs into neurons through the upregulation of FUT9 and ST3Gal4. Furthermore, blocking the phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma) signaling pathway with either a specific PLCgamma inhibitor or knockdown PLCgamma reduced the expression levels of both FUT9 and ST3Gal4 mRNAs and inhibited L1-mediated neuronal differentiation. These results demonstrate that L1 promotes neuronal differentiation from ESCs through the L1-mediated enhancement of FUT9 and ST3Gal4 expression.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)405 - 412
Number of pages8
JournalBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Volume440
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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