Activin A and follistatin influence expression of somatostatin in the ciliary ganglion in vivo

An important developmental question concerns whether neurotransmitter phenotype is an inherent property of neurons or is influenced by target tissues. This issue can be addressed in the avian ciliary ganglion (CG) which contains two cholinergic populations, ciliary and choroid neurons, that differen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental biology 1998-10, Vol.202 (2), p.293-303
Main Authors: Darland, D C, Nishi, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activins
Animals
Chick Embryo
Choroid - drug effects
Choroid - embryology
Ciliary Body - drug effects
Ciliary Body - embryology
Follistatin
Ganglia, Parasympathetic - drug effects
Ganglia, Parasympathetic - embryology
Ganglia, Parasympathetic - metabolism
Glycoproteins - administration & dosage
Glycoproteins - pharmacology
Immunohistochemistry
Inhibins - administration & dosage
Inhibins - pharmacology
Iris - drug effects
Iris - embryology
Models, Neurological
Recombinant Proteins - administration & dosage
Recombinant Proteins - pharmacology
Somatostatin - metabolism
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Summary:An important developmental question concerns whether neurotransmitter phenotype is an inherent property of neurons or is influenced by target tissues. This issue can be addressed in the avian ciliary ganglion (CG) which contains two cholinergic populations, ciliary and choroid neurons, that differentially express the peptide cotransmitter, somatostatin. The present study tests the hypothesis that differences in the level of expression of activin A and its endogenous inhibitor follistatin in CG neuron target tissues are responsible for selective expression of somatostatin in choroid neurons. Intraocular injection of activin A or follistatin (300 ng injected at E10/E11) in cultured embryos resulted in a 39% increase or a 23% decrease, respectively, in somatostatin-positive neurons relative to controls. Chorioallantoic membrane application of follistatin (1 microgram daily from E7 to E13) reduced somatostatin positive neurons by 54%. Neuron number, size, and target tissue morphology were unaffected by these treatments. Together with our previous studies, these data suggest that activin A and follistatin are target-derived molecules that regulate neuropeptide phenotype in the ciliary ganglion.
ISSN:0012-1606
DOI:10.1006/dbio.1998.8998