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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 15, 1999, 19(6):2069-2080
Differential Sorting of Nerve Growth Factor and Brain-Derived
Neurotrophic Factor in Hippocampal Neurons
S. Javad
Mowla1,
Sangeeta
Pareek1,
Hooman F.
Farhadi1,
Kevin
Petrecca3,
James P.
Fawcett1,
Nabil G.
Seidah4,
Stephen J.
Morris1,
Wayne S.
Sossin2, and
Richard A.
Murphy1
1 Centre for Neuronal Survival, 2 Cell
Biology of Excitable Tissues Group, Department of Neurology and
Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute,
3 Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada H3A 2B4, and 4 Laboratory of Biochemical
Neuroendocrinology, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada H2W 1R7
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ABSTRACT |
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is released through the constitutive
secretory pathway from cells in peripheral tissues and nerves where it
can act as a target-derived survival factor. In contrast, brain-derived
neurotrophic factor (BDNF) appears to be processed in the regulated
secretory pathway of brain neurons and secreted in an
activity-dependent manner to play a role in synaptic plasticity. To
determine whether sorting differences are intrinsic to the neurotrophins or reflect differences between cell types, we compared NGF and BDNF processing in cultured hippocampal neurons using a
Vaccinia virus expression system. Three independent criteria (retention
or release from cells after pulse-chase labeling,
depolarization-dependent release, and immunocytochemical localization)
suggest that the bulk of newly synthesized NGF is sorted into the
constitutive pathway, whereas BDNF is primarily sorted into the
regulated secretory pathway. Similar results occurred with AtT 20 cells, including those transfected with cDNAs encoding neurotrophin
precursor-green fluorescent protein fusions. The NGF precursor, but
not the BDNF precursor, is efficiently cleaved by the endoprotease
furin in the trans-Golgi network (TGN). Blocking furin
activity in AtT 20 cells with 1-PDX as well as increasing the
expression of NGF precursor partially directed NGF into the regulated
secretory pathway. Therefore, neurotrophins can be sorted into either
the constitutive or regulated secretory pathways, and sorting may be
regulated by the efficiency of furin cleavage in the TGN. This mechanism may explain how neuron-generated neurotrophins can act both
as survival factors and as neuropeptides.
Key words:
NGF; BDNF; precursor; furin; constitutive secretion; regulated secretion; neurotrophin
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INTRODUCTION |
Numerous cell types secrete
neurotrophins, including CNS and PNS neurons and non-neuronal cells in
peripheral tissues. Once released, neurotrophins promote neuronal
survival and plasticity by interacting with specific receptors on the
membranes of target neurons (for review, see Thoenen, 1995 ; Snider and
Lichtman, 1996 ). We know much about sites of neurotrophin production
and utilization, but we know little about the mechanisms that regulate
neurotrophin release from cells.
Most secretory proteins are synthesized as high molecular weight
precursors that translocate into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and
then to the Golgi stacks. There they are post-translationally modified
(Loh, 1993 ) and cleaved by endoproteases that separate active peptides
from inactive precursors. Many precursors are cleaved within the
trans-Golgi network (TGN) by furin or furin-like enzymes
that act on the COOH-terminal side of multibasic sites (generally
Arg-X-Lys/Arg-Arg) (Hosaka et al., 1991 ) after which they can be
constitutively released (Dubois et al., 1995 ). In neurons, most
neuropeptides are cleaved within the regulated secretory pathway
not by furin-like enzymes but by prohormone convertases 1 and 2 (PC1
and PC2) (Rouille et al., 1995 ), which cleave precursors in immature
secretory granules before or after granules bud from the TGN. Thus,
proteolytic maturation of proteins destined for regulated secretion
occurs at a later time point and in a different subcellular compartment
than does proteolysis of constitutively secreted proteins.
Neurotrophin processing can occur in either the constitutive or the
regulated secretory pathways. Fibroblasts and Schwann cells contain the
constitutive secretory pathway only. They also produce furin, which
cleaves neurotrophin precursors in vitro (Bresnahan et al.,
1990 ; Seidah et al., 1996a ,b ), and bioactive NGF (Bunge, 1994 ; Singh et
al., 1997 ), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (Acheson et al.,
1991 ), and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) (Cartwright et al., 1994 ). NGF can
also be processed in the regulated pathway of cells exposed to viruses
or plasmids encoding the NGF precursor (Edwards et al., 1988 ; Heymach
et al., 1996 ; Canossa et al., 1997 ; Kruttgen et al., 1998 ).
BDNF processing appears to occur within the regulated pathway in cells
that have both secretory mechanisms, including neurons. Depolarization
releases BDNF from virus-infected hippocampal neurons (Goodman et al.,
1996 ). BDNF has been detected in large dense-core vesicles of sensory
neurons (Michael et al., 1997 ) and in brain synaptosomes (Fawcett et
al., 1997 ). These data are consistent with a growing number of studies
showing that BDNF, but not NGF, is anterogradely transported in neurons
[Altar et al. (1997) ; Fawcett et al. (1998) ; for review, see Altar and
DiStefano (1998) ].
In this study, we used a Vaccinia virus (VV) expression system to
directly compare the sorting of NGF and BDNF in hippocampal neurons and
AtT 20 cells. Pulse-chase labeling, immunocytochemistry, and
depolarization-dependent release studies suggest that under identical
experimental conditions, NGF is primarily sorted to the constitutive
secretory pathway, and BDNF is sorted to the regulated secretory
pathway. Inhibiting furin-like enzymes alters the processing of pro-NGF
but not pro-BDNF, and cold-block methods that inhibit protein exit from
the TGN prevent cleavage of pro-BDNF but not pro-NGF. In addition,
blocking furin activity directs some pro-NGF to the regulated pathway,
suggesting that sensitivity to furin-mediated cleavage may be an
important determinant in regulating neurotrophin sorting.
Some of these results have been published previously in abstract form
(Mowla et al., 1997 ).
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Cell cultures. Hippocampal neurons were prepared
according to the method of Banker and Cowan (1977) as modified by
Brewer et al. (1993) . Briefly, the hippocampus was dissected from
embryonic day 18 (E18) mice (Charles River, Montreal, Canada), exposed
to trypsin, dissociated mechanically, and grown in 60 mm
collagen/poly-L-lysine-coated dishes. Cells from two
litters of mice were plated into six dishes. Cultures were maintained
in serum-free Neurobasal medium (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD)
containing 0.5 mM glutamine and 1× B27 supplement (Life
Technologies). Schwann cell cultures were prepared from neonatal rat
sciatic nerve as described previously (Pareek et al., 1993 ). AtT 20 cells and COS 7 cells were cultured as reported previously (Seidah et
al., 1996a ). We also used an AtT 20 cell line stably transfected with
1-PDX cDNA that has been described previously (Benjannet et
al., 1997 ). Special care was taken to ensure that cells were
distributed in equal numbers in dishes that were to be used for group comparisons.
VV recombinants and infections. Purified recombinant VVs
containing the full-length coding regions of mouse pro-NGF and human pro-BDNF (generously provided by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY) were constructed as described previously (Seidah et al., 1996a ,b ). VVs coding for 1-PDX were kindly provided by Dr. Gary Thomas (Vollum
Institute, Portland, OR). Separate plates of cells were infected with
VV encoding pro-NGF or pro-BDNF. In one series of studies, we
coinfected AtT 20 cells with VV encoding pro-NGF and 1-PDX. VV
infections were performed as described previously (Seidah et al.,
1996a ), except that we used a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1 followed by an incubation of 8-10 hr in virus-free medium before
metabolic labeling. Under our experimental conditions, there was no
evidence of cell death in cells exposed to VVs for the times indicated
in each experiment.
Green fluorescent protein-neurotrophin fusions. cDNAs
coding for pro-BDNF and pro-NGF were amplified using primers that
eliminated the stop codons and created restriction sites for inserting
neurotrophin cDNAs in frame with the coding sequence of green
fluorescent protein (GFP) from EGFP-N1 (Clontech, Cambridge, UK). The
GFP coding region was inserted near the region coding for the C
terminus of the mature neurotrophin. Thus, the NGF-GFP construct coded
for amino acids 1-304 of pro-NGF, and the BDNF-GFP construct coded
for amino acids 1-250 of pro-BDNF. Clones were sequenced manually
(Sequenase; United States Biochemical Corporation, Cleveland, OH). AtT
20 cells growing on poly-L-lysine-coated coverslips were
transfected with neurotrophin-GFP constructs using lipofectamine (Life
Technologies). Three days later the cells were fixed in 4%
paraformaldehyde in PBS and analyzed by epifluorescence using a Zeiss
Axioskop microscope with a 40× objective.
To determine whether GFP-labeled neurotrophins were properly processed,
we metabolically labeled the cells for 6 hr with
[35S] cysteine-methionine (Cys-Met) Translabel 48 hr after cells were transfected with the constructs, collected cell
lysates and conditioned medium, exposed them to neurotrophin
antibodies, and analyzed the immunoprecipitates by SDS-PAGE, as
described below. We also analyzed the biological activity of secreted
GFP-tagged neurotrophins by testing conditioned medium in a Trk
autophosphorylation bioassay. Conditioned media obtained from
nontransfected COS 7 cells or cells transfected with NGF, NGF-GFP,
BDNF, or BDNF-GFP were incubated for 5 min with NIH 3T3 cells
engineered to express Trk A (for NGF) or Trk B (for BDNF). The cells
were lysed and immunoprecipitated with anti-pan Trk 203 antibody,
fractionated by SDS-PAGE, and probed on Western blot replicas with a
phosphotyrosine antibody, according to the methods of Hempstead et al.
(1992) .
Metabolic labeling and immunoprecipitation. For pulse-chase
experiments, we incubated infected cells with 1.5 ml of Cys-Met-free DMEM containing 10% FCS and 0.5 mCi/ml
[35S] Translabel (ICN Biochemicals,
Montréal, Québec, Canada) (70% methionine, 30% cysteine)
for 30 min. Pro-BDNF contains 10 methionines as compared with four in
pro-NGF, and mature BDNF contains three methionines as compared with
one in mature NGF. These differences, together with higher
concentrations of methionine in the Translabel, explain why pro-BDNF
and mature BDNF tend to label more heavily than pro-NGF and NGF in most
figures showing metabolic labeling. Cells were washed, and the medium
was replaced with an equal volume of DMEM containing 10% FCS plus
twofold excess concentrations of nonradioactive cysteine and methionine
for the times indicated (chase periods). In some experiments,
hippocampal neurons were incubated at 20°C for 3 hr in medium
containing Translabel to monitor the effects of cold conditions on
precursor processing.
In all experiments, conditioned media and cell lysates were brought to
final volumes of 1.5 ml, 750 µl of which was subjected to
immunoprecipitation. Samples immunoprecipitated with nonimmune rabbit
IgG showed no bands corresponding to standards of neurotrophin precursors or products.
Immunoprecipitations were performed as described previously (Seidah et
al., 1996a ). For NGF, we used an affinity-purified rabbit anti-NGF IgG
described previously (Murphy et al., 1993 ; Seidah et al., 1996a ). BDNF
immunoprecipitations were performed using an antibody kindly supplied
by Amgen and characterized previously (Fawcett et al., 1997 ; Yan et
al., 1997 ). Cell lysates and conditioned media were analyzed by
electrophoresis on a 13-22% SDS-PAGE. Gels were fixed in 40%
methanol and 10% acetic acid, treated with ENHANCE (DuPont NEN,
Boston, MA), and washed in 10% glycerol, all for 1 hr. Dried gels were
analyzed by a phosphorimaging device (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale,
CA), and radioactivity in each band was quantitated using the
ImageQuant program. Levels of radioactivity were within the linear
range of the device. Statistical significance was determined using the
Student's t test on a minimum of triplicate experiments.
To monitor the effects of depolarization on neurotrophin release, we
infected hippocampal neurons with recombinant viruses, metabolically
labeled the cells for 30 min, and washed and incubated the cells in
medium containing excess nonradioactive methionine and cysteine for 4 hr. The cells were exposed to tissue culture medium supplemented with
or without KCl (56 mM) and CaCl2 (5.8 mM) for 15 min. Conditioned media and cell lysates were
collected, immunoprecipitated, and fractionated by SDS-PAGE.
Neurotrophin levels were estimated and compared by phosphorimager
analysis. In a control experiment, we examined KCl-induced release of
endogenous secretogranin II using immunoprecipitation methods.
VV/NGF-infected cultures of hippocampal neurons were treated as above,
and conditioned media and cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with an
antibody to rat secretoneurin kindly provided by Dr. Reiner
Fischer-Colbrie (Department of Pharmacology, Innsbruck University, Austria).
Immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy.
VV/NGF-BDNF-infected AtT 20 cells and primary cultures of hippocampal
neurons as well as controls consisting of uninfected cells or cells
infected with wild-type VVs were rinsed with PBS, fixed for 20 min in
4% paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, and
permeabilized in 0.1% Triton X-100 for 10 min. The cells were
preincubated for 20 min in HEPES-buffered saline (HBS) containing 10%
FCS to reduce nonspecific antibody binding and exposed to 1:2000
dilutions of primary antibodies overnight at 4°C. The cells were
washed three times with HBS (5 min each) and incubated 1 hr
with CY3-conjugated goat antirabbit antibody (Jackson Laboratory,
Bar Harbor, ME) diluted 1:2000 in HBS containing 10%
goat serum. Cells were washed three times in HBS and mounted in a
Tris-buffered glycerol mounting medium (Sigma, St. Louis, MO).
Cells were analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy with a
Zeiss LSM 410 inverted confocal microscope using a 63×, 1.4 NA
objective. Cells were excited at 543 nm and imaged on a
photomultiplier after passage through FT 590 and LP 590 filter
sets. The confocal images represent one confocal level (a depth of
~1 µm) that contains the cell nucleus along with as many cell
processes as were possible to image, to evaluate the peripheral
distribution of secretory vesicles. There were no perceptible
differences in the distribution of NGF and BDNF immunoreactivity when
we scanned below and above the nucleus. All images were printed on a
Kodak XLS 8300 high-resolution printer.
In some studies we used epifluorescence microscopy to compare in
VV-infected AtT 20 cells the distribution of NGF and BDNF immunoreactivity with TGN38, a marker of the trans-Golgi
network (Luzio et al., 1990 ), and ACTH, which is packaged in secretory vesicles of AtT 20 cells. Antibody to TGN38 raised in guinea pig (kindly provided by Drs. G. Banting and W. Garten, University of Texas,
Southwestern, Dallas, TX) was used at a 1:50 dilution and visualized
using an FITC-conjugated secondary antibody raised in goat
(Jackson Laboratory) diluted 1:50 in HBS containing 10% normal goat
serum. ACTH localization was performed using a monoclonal antibody
(Cortex Biochem) at a dilution of 1:1000, visualized with a
CY2-conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (Jackson Laboratory)
diluted 1:1000 in HBS containing normal goat serum.
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RESULTS |
Differential retention of NGF and BDNF in hippocampal neurons
Figure 1 compares neurotrophin
processing in hippocampal neurons infected with recombinant viruses
encoding either pro-NGF or pro-BDNF. Figure 1A shows
that over an 8 hr chase period, pro-NGF processing gives rise to mature
NGF. The NGF precursor (35 kDa) is evident in cell lysates at the start
of the chase period, and within 30 min, glycosylated higher molecular
weight forms of the precursor (39-42 kDa) (Seidah et al., 1996a ) are
evident. Levels of the precursor remain steady in cell lysates for up
to 2 hr but decrease thereafter. Small amounts of the precursor are
also evident in conditioned medium sampled at 4 and 8 hr. Mature NGF (13.2 kDa) is visible in conditioned medium after 2 hr, and at 4 hr,
levels are higher than in the corresponding cell lysates. Phosphorimager analysis revealed that in samples collected at 8 hr, 3.0 times (±0.7 SEM) as much mature NGF is released into medium than is
retained within cell lysates.

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Figure 1.
Pulse-chase metabolic labeling of pro-NGF
(A) and pro-BDNF (B) in
cultures of hippocampal neurons. Separate plates of cells were infected
with VV encoding the NGF precursor or the BDNF precursor for 1 hr and
postincubated in fresh medium without virus for 10 hr. Cells were
exposed to medium containing [35S] Cys-Met for 30 min and chased for 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 hr. Identical volumes (750 µl) of cell lysates (CL) and conditioned media
(CM) were immunoprecipitated with antibodies to
NGF or BDNF or with nonimmune serum (NI; a cell lysate
sample) and electrophoresed on 13-22% SDS gradient gels. Dried gels
were exposed to a phosphorimaging screen.
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Figure 1B shows that pro-BDNF is also processed by
hippocampal neurons. Pro-BDNF (32 kDa) is evident within cell lysates
in all time periods tested, with levels decreasing in samples collected at 4 and 8 hr when levels of processed product increase. In contrast to
pro-NGF, significant levels of the BDNF precursor are also evident in
conditioned media in all samples collected after 1 hr, apparently
because of constitutive release of the protein. Mature BDNF (14.2 kDa)
is evident within cell lysates by 1 hr and remains detectable
throughout the 8 hr period of analysis. The amount of BDNF retained in
cell lysates exceeds the amount released into conditioned medium by
4.0-fold (±1.5 SEM) in samples collected at 8 hr.
Figure 2 presents data obtained from
triplicate experiments on hippocampal neurons performed as shown in
Figure 1. The figure compares the amount of processed NGF or BDNF in
cell lysates as a function of the total amount of processed
neurotrophin in cell lysates and conditioned media. Significantly
higher levels of BDNF are retained within cell lysates as compared with
NGF as early as 1 hr after chase, and the differences increase over the 8 hr chase period.

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Figure 2.
Kinetics of NGF and BDNF retention in hippocampal
neurons. Experiments in Figure 1 were repeated three times, and the
combined results were analyzed by the ImageQuant program. The ratio of
mature NGF and BDNF in cell lysates (CL) was compared
with the total NGF and BDNF in CL + conditioned medium
(CM). Data show that significantly larger amounts
of BDNF are retained in CL than NGF.
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To determine whether hippocampal neurons are unique in their ability to
retain more BDNF than NGF, we repeated the pulse-chase experiments
shown in Figure 1 in AtT 20 cells, a well established cell line that
contains both the regulated and constitutive secretory pathways
(Burgess and Kelly, 1987 ). Figure 3 shows
that AtT 20 cells, like hippocampal neurons, release more NGF into
conditioned medium than they retain in cell lysates; the opposite
occurs with BDNF. Therefore, in both neurons and AtT 20 cells, most
newly synthesized and processed NGF is released from cells, whereas most processed BDNF is retained in cell lysates.

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Figure 3.
Pulse-chase metabolic labeling of pro-NGF
(A) and pro-BDNF (B)
production and processing in VV-infected AtT 20 cell cultures. Methods
were identical to those described in the legend to Figure 1. NGF and
BDNF and their precursors were measured in conditioned medium
(CM) and in cell lysates (CL).
NI is a sample of CL precipitated with
nonimmune serum.
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To determine whether retention of BDNF is only a characteristic of
cells with the regulated secretory pathway, we repeated the experiments
with constitutively secreting rat Schwann cells. Figure
4 shows that pro-BDNF is processed by
Schwann cells. By 4 hr chase, slightly higher levels of processed BDNF
are evident in conditioned media than in cell lysates. By 8 hr, both
mature BDNF and pro-BDNF are evident only in conditioned medium.
Therefore, Schwann cells process pro-BDNF and release it, along with
the BDNF precursor, into conditioned medium. Thus, the retention of processed BDNF by hippocampal neurons and AtT 20 cells is likely caused
by differences in the secretory pathways of these cells and Schwann
cells.

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Figure 4.
Pulse-chase metabolic labeling of primary rat
Schwann cells infected with VV encoding pro-BDNF. Methods were
identical to those described in the legend to Figure 1. BDNF and its
precursor were measured in cell lysates (CL) and
conditioned media (CM). NI is a
CL sample precipitated with nonimmune serum.
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Immunocytochemical localization of BDNF and NGF
We used immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy to
assess the intracellular locations of NGF and BDNF immunoreactivity in
recombinant virus-infected cells. Figure
5 shows BDNF immunoreactivity localized
to punctate structures throughout the cytoplasm and in the tips of
processes in both AtT 20 cells (Fig. 5A) and hippocampal neurons (Fig. 5B). In contrast, NGF immunoreactivity is
distributed in the perinuclear cytoplasm of both AtT 20 cells (Fig.
5C) and hippocampal neurons (Fig. 5D) and was
seldom detected as punctate in either cell type. Neither NGF nor BDNF
immunoreactivity was evident in uninfected cells or in cells infected
with wild-type viruses (data not shown). Detection of BDNF
immunoreactivity within vesicle-like structures is consistent with the
idea that BDNF is processed within the regulated secretory pathway.

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Figure 5.
Confocal microscopy of AtT 20 cells
(A, C) and hippocampal neurons
(B, D) infected with VV encoding pro-NGF
(C, D) or pro-BDNF (A,
B). Cells were infected for 1 hr and postincubated in
the absence of virus for another 8 hr. The cultures were fixed and
treated with antibodies against NGF or BDNF, followed by CY3-conjugated
goat anti-rabbit IgG. Scale bar, 10 µm.
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Figure 6 compares the distribution of
BDNF and NGF immunoreactivity with that of endogenous TGN38 and ACTH in
virally infected AtT 20 cells. Cells were immunostained for BDNF
(A,B,G,H), NGF (C,I), ACTH
(E,H), and TGN38 (D,F,G,I).
Immunoreactivity for BDNF (A) and TGN38
(D) colocalize (G) as does
immunoreactivity for NGF (C) and TGN38
(F) within the perinuclear region
(I). BDNF immunoreactivity is also located
in punctate structures that are distributed within the cytoplasm and
processes of AtT 20 cells (A,B) in a manner
indistinguishable from ACTH (E). In some vesicles, the two proteins colocalize (H). In
contrast, NGF immunoreactivity was never seen in punctate structures
under these experimental conditions. Taken together, these data suggest
that BDNF is located in the TGN, as expected before sorting, and
packaged within large dense-core vesicles similar to those containing
endogenously produced ACTH. NGF is also located in the TGN but is not
packaged or concentrated within large dense-core vesicles, which is
consistent with NGF being released through the constitutive secretory
pathway.

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Figure 6.
Double-label immunocytochemistry comparing the
distribution in infected AtT 20 cells of BDNF and NGF immunoreactivity
with immunostaining of endogenous TGN38 and ACTH. BDNF immunoreactivity
(A, B) colocalizes with TGN38 (D)
in the perinuclear region and with ACTH in the cytoplasm and
cell processes (E). G is a
composite of A and D; H is
a composite of B and E. NGF
immunoreactivity (C) colocalizes with TGN38
(F) in the perinuclear region but is not
detectable in cell processes. I is a composite of
C and F.
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Our results suggest clear differences between the sorting of NGF and
BDNF. To test whether these results arose simply as a result of the
Vaccinia virus infection method, we transfected AtT 20 cells with
constructs coding for GFP fused to the C-terminal region of pro-BDNF or
pro-NGF and examined the distribution of the fusion proteins by
epifluorescence microscopy. Figure
7A shows that pro-BDNF-GFP
fluorescence was localized within punctate structures in the cytoplasm
and tips of cell processes. In contrast, pro-NGF-GFP (Fig.
7B) was distributed diffusely within the cell, never within punctate structures. NGF-GFP fluorescence was also less intense than
that of BDNF-GFP, perhaps because of its failure to be concentrated in
vesicles and its constitutive release from the cell. The
differential distribution of GFP-labeled pro-BDNF and pro-NGF was
similar to that obtained using the Vaccinia virus infection method.
Haubensak et al. (1998) recently reported results similar to ours with
respect to the localization of BDNF-GFP fusion proteins.

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Figure 7.
Expression of pro-neurotrophin-GFP fusion
proteins in AtT 20 cells. Cells were plated on
poly-L-lysine-coated coverslips and transfected using
lipofectamine with cDNAs encoding either (A)
pro-NGF-GFP or (B) pro-BDNF-GFP. Three days
later, the cells were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy.
C, Immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE of metabolically
labeled GFP fusion proteins from transfected COS 7 cells.
D, Conditioned medium from pro-NGF-GFP or pro-BDNF-GFP
expressing COS 7 cells activate Trk A and Trk B phosphorylation,
respectively, in NIH 3T3 cells engineered to overexpress either
receptor.
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We performed metabolic labeling and SDS-PAGE analyses to determine
whether pro-BDNF- and pro-NGF-GFP-labeled constructs were appropriately translated and processed in these experiments. However, these experiments were unsuccessful in AtT 20 cells because of low
transfection efficiency. We repeated the experiments in COS 7 cells and
found that both pro-NGF-GFP and pro-BDNF-GFP were processed
appropriately, without cleavage of the GFP tag, as reported previously
(Haubensak et al.,1998 ) (Fig. 7C). We also determined that
medium conditioned by COS 7 cells that had been transfected with
pro-NGF-GFP and pro-BDNF-GFP was fully active in inducing Trk A and
Trk B autophosphorylation, respectively, in NIH 3T3 cells engineered to
express the receptors (Fig. 7D). These data indicate that
GFP-tagged pro-BDNF and pro-NGF are processed appropriately and
that conditioned media containing the precursor and mature forms of
the proteins can activate their cognate receptors. Data monitoring the
distribution of the neurotrophin-GFP fusion proteins further confirm
our VV data indicating clear differences in the sorting and
intracellular distribution of NGF and BDNF.
Depolarization-induced release of BDNF from
hippocampal neurons
If BDNF is in the regulated secretory pathway, depolarization
should promote its release. Figure 8
shows that BDNF levels in conditioned medium nearly doubled when
hippocampal neurons were exposed to KCl; however, depolarization had no
effect on NGF release. Depolarization did not promote the release
of pro-BDNF or pro-NGF under these experimental conditions (data not
shown). To be certain that infecting hippocampal neurons with the
NGF-coding virus had not altered the regulated secretory pathway of
hippocampal neurons, we monitored the effects of KCl
depolarization on the release of endogenously produced
secretogranin II, which is present in the regulated pathway. Figure
9 shows that KCl treatment effectively promoted secretogranin II release in cells infected with pro-NGF encoding VV.

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Figure 8.
KCl-induced release of BDNF but not NGF from
hippocampal neurons. Hippocampal neurons from E18 mice were cultured
for 7 d and infected for 1 hr with VV encoding pro-NGF or
pro-BDNF. After 10 hr in medium without virus, the cells were labeled
for 30 min with [35S] Cys-Met, incubated in medium
without radiolabel for 4 hr, and treated with medium with or without
KCl and CaCl2 for 15 min. Conditioned media were
immunoprecipitated with antibodies to NGF or BDNF and electrophoresed
on a SDS gel. Results were analyzed on a phosphorimager and are an
average (±SEM) of three independent experiments.
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Figure 9.
Release of secretogranin II
(sgII) from hippocampal neurons infected with VV
coding for pro-NGF. Eight hours after neurons were exposed to VV, the
cells were pulsed for 30 min with medium containing
[35S] Cys-Met. The cells were chased for an
additional 4 hr, after which samples of conditioned medium were
analyzed (CM1), and again 30 min later after the
addition (+) or in the absence ( ) of KCl (50 mM) added to
the culture medium (CM2).
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Differential processing of pro-NGF and pro-BDNF by furin
To further test whether BDNF and NGF are differentially sorted in
cells containing both a regulated and constitutive secretory pathway,
we performed three additional sets of experiments. In the first, we
tested the effects of lowered temperature on the processing of the
neurotrophin precursors. Cold temperatures (20°C) allow precursor
proteins to enter the TGN but inhibit vesicle budding from the TGN,
which is an essential step for processing proteins in immature
secretory granules of the regulated secretory pathway (Matlin and
Simons, 1983 ). Therefore, precursor processing at 20°C must occur
within the TGN. For these studies, we infected hippocampal neurons with
recombinant VVs, metabolically labeled the cells, incubated them for 3 hr at 20°C, and analyzed the intracellular content of newly
synthesized NGF and BDNF in cell lysates by immunoprecipitation methods. Figure 10 shows that
significant amounts of mature NGF were generated from the NGF precursor
under cold-block conditions, whereas cold block totally inhibited the
generation of mature BDNF from the BDNF precursor. Therefore pro-NGF,
but not pro-BDNF, is cleaved within the TGN, probably by furin.

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Figure 10.
Cold-block experiments. Hippocampal neurons were
infected with VV encoding pro-NGF or pro-BDNF for 1 hr, and
metabolically labeled at 20°C for 3 hr. Cell lysates were
prepared, immunoprecipitated with antibodies to NGF or BDNF, and
electrophoresed on SDS gels.
|
|
We also compared pro-NGF and pro-BDNF processing in the presence of
1-PDX, an 1-anti-trypsin derivative that selectively interferes
with furin's ability to process precursor proteins within the TGN
(Anderson et al., 1993 ; Watanabe et al., 1995 ; Vollenweider et al.,
1996 ). In these studies, we monitored neurotrophin processing in AtT 20 cells coinfected with VVs encoding either pro-NGF or pro-BDNF with or
without VVs coding for 1-PDX. Figure 11 shows that 1-PDX had no
detectable effect on pro-BDNF processing. However, 1-PDX did
increase the amount of pro-NGF released constitutively into conditioned
medium, a result that was similar to those obtained when we monitored
pro-BDNF processing in hippocampal neurons and AtT 20 cells (Figs. 1,
3). Identical results (data not shown) were obtained when we infected
neurotrophin-encoding viruses into a stably transfected AtT 20 cell
line overexpressing 1-PDX (Benjannet et al., 1997 ).

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Figure 11.
The effects of 1-PDX on pro-NGF processing in
AtT 20 cells. AtT 20 cells were infected for 2 hr with VV encoding
pro-NGF or pro-BDNF with or without VV encoding the furin inhibitor
1-PDX. Cells were incubated in virus-free medium for 10 hr and
metabolically labeled for 3 hr. Cell lysates (CL) and
conditioned media (CM) were collected,
immunoprecipitated, and analyzed by SDS gel electrophoresis.
|
|
The finding that 1-PDX caused the constitutive release of pro-NGF
into conditioned medium suggested to us that 1-PDX might be altering
sorting of NGF within the cell, an idea confirmed by
immunocytochemistry. Figure
12B shows that in AtT
20 cells that stably overexpress 1-PDX, pro-NGF encoding viruses
cause the accumulation of NGF immunoreactivity in punctate vesicles
within the cell cytoplasm and tips of cell processes that does not
occur in the absence of 1-PDX. Figure 12C shows that at
least some of the NGF in these cells can be released into conditioned
medium in response to extracellular cAMP, which is consistent with the protein being sorted to the regulated secretory pathway. Taken together, these data suggest that 1-PDX, which partially inhibits the processing of pro-NGF in the TGN, targets some NGF processing to
the regulated secretory pathway, where its release can be promoted by
extracellular cues.

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Figure 12.
The effects of 1-PDX on NGF sorting in AtT 20 cells. AtT 20 cells (A) or AtT 20 cells that
stably express 1-PDX (B) were infected for 1 hr with VV encoding pro-NGF, postinfected for 10 hr, and prepared for
immunocytochemistry. In C, AtT 20 cells with or without
stably expressed 1-PDX were infected with VV encoding pro-NGF for 1 hr, postinfected for 10 hr in control medium, pulsed with medium
containing [35S] Cys-Met for 2 hr, chased for 3 hr, and treated with medium with or without 5 mM cAMP for 3 hr. Cell lysates and conditioned media were immunoprecipitated and
analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Results were analyzed on a phosphorimager and
report an average (±SEM) of three independent experiments.
|
|
Finally, Edwards et al. (1988) reported that cAMP causes the release of
NGF from VV-infected AtT 20 cells, data that led them to suggest that
NGF is processed and released by the regulated secretory pathway. In
that study, cells were infected with an MOI of 10-20, as opposed to 1 MOI in our study. The probable explanation for differences in their
results and ours is presented in Figure 13. Immunocytochemical data show that
increasing levels of viral infection shifts the intracellular
distribution of NGF from a diffuse to a punctate pattern (Fig.
13a). Furthermore, cells receiving 1 MOI do not release NGF
in response to cAMP, but cAMP-induced NGF release is seen when cells
are exposed to 5 and 10 MOI (Fig. 13b), data that agree with
those presented by Edwards et al. (1988) . (In the figure, compare
CM3 in the presence and absence of cAMP). In contrast,
reducing by up to 50-fold the MOI of VV coding for BDNF had no effect
on the punctate localization of BDNF in infected cells (data not
shown). Therefore, sorting of BDNF to the regulated pathway is likely
not attributable to concentration effects arising from the level of
viral infection.

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Figure 13.
Overexpression of NGF results in missorting of
NGF from the constitutive to the regulated secretory pathway.
a, AtT 20 cells were infected for 1 hr with 1 (A), 5 (B), or 10 (C) MOI of VV coding for pro-NGF, postinfected
for 8 hr, fixed, and prepared for immunocytochemistry using an antibody
to NGF followed by a CY3-conjugated secondary antibody. Cells were
analyzed by confocal microscopy. b, AtT 20 cells were
infected with 1 (A), 5 (B),
or 10 (C) MOI for 1 hr followed by a 4 hr
postinfection and 3 hr incubation in medium containing
[35S] Translabel. Conditioned media were collected
(CM1), the cells were chased for 3 hr, and media was
again collected (CM2). 8-bromo-cAMP (5 mM)
was then added to some cultures, and cells were incubated for an
additional 3 hr, after which media were collected (CM3)
and the cells were lysed (CL). NGF was
immunoprecipitated from all samples, and the precipitate was analyzed
by SDS-PAGE. Comparison of CM3 samples shows that NGF
release can be stimulated by cAMP from cells infected with 5 or 10 MOI
but not from cells receiving 1 MOI.
|
|
 |
DISCUSSION |
Pulse-chase studies show that hippocampal neurons and AtT 20 cells retain more newly synthesized BDNF than they release. BDNF immunoreactivity is evident in punctate, vesicle-like structures distributed throughout the cell cytoplasm, including in the tips of
cell processes, and cell depolarization induces BDNF release. Thus,
BDNF appears to sort primarily to the regulated secretory pathway. In
contrast, hippocampal neurons and AtT 20 cells release more NGF than
they retain, NGF immunoreactivity is distributed diffusely within the
perinuclear cytoplasm, presumably within the endoplasmic reticulum and
Golgi apparatus, and depolarization fails to promote NGF's release
into conditioned medium. Thus, NGF appears to be processed and released
in the constitutive pathway. These results are not unique to the
Vaccinia virus expression system because NGF and BDNF were
differentially distributed as well within cells transfected with cDNAs
coding for GFP-pro-neurotrophin fusion proteins.
Furin appears to cleave pro-NGF in the cells we tested. Pro-NGF
processing is unaffected by cold-block conditions that inhibit the exit
of proteins from the TGN (Matlin and Simons, 1983 ), suggesting that NGF
processing occurs within the TGN. In contrast, cold block totally
inhibited the processing of pro-BDNF. Pro-BDNF processing likely occurs
in immature secretory vesicles after they bud from the TGN, which is an
early step in the regulated secretory pathway. Also, 1-PDX, a
competitive inhibitor of furin, increased levels of NGF precursor in
conditioned medium, which is consistent with its inhibiting pro-NGF
processing within the TGN. 1-PDX did not affect pro-BDNF processing.
In the presence of 1-PDX, NGF immunoreactivity appeared in punctate
structures similar to those in cells infected with pro-BDNF encoding
viruses, and some NGF precursor was constitutively secreted.
Furthermore, depolarization released small amounts of NGF into
conditioned medium. These results are similar to those obtained with
pro-BDNF in the absence of 1-PDX. Thus, inhibiting furin activity
induces some pro-NGF to be sorted to the regulated secretory pathway.
Similar effects have been observed for pro-opiomelanocortin (Benjannet
et al., 1997 ).
Cleavage by furin or furin-like enzymes within the TGN may be one
factor determining whether neurotrophins are sorted into the
constitutive or regulated secretory pathways. Studies with the
precursor for egg-laying hormone (pro-ELH) in mollusks may explain how
this mechanism could work. Pro-ELH contains bioactive peptides on both
the C- and amino-terminal sides of a furin cleavage site (Sossin et
al., 1990 ). The C-terminal side of the precursor is sorted into the
regulated secretory pathway after furin cleavage, and the
amino-terminal side is released constitutively, degraded, or sorted
into a separate regulated secretory pathway (Jung and Scheller, 1991 ).
In cells with low furin levels, the precursor avoids cleavage, and both
sides of the precursor are sorted into the same regulated secretory
vesicles (Klumperman et al., 1996 ). Thus, sorting of the amino-terminal
active peptides into dense-core secretory vesicles occurs only in the
absence of furin cleavage, and different cells with different amounts
of furin sort the same neuropeptide differently.
A similar situation may occur with neurotrophin processing. Sorting
into the regulated pathway may require signals within the pro-domain or
near the consensus cleavage site. When cleaved by furin, the NGF
precursor may lose these signals, and the mature cleaved protein is
sorted into the constitutive pathway for release. In that regard,
inserting furin-sensitive cleavage sites into pro-insulin (Yanagita et
al., 1992 ) and pro-renin (Oda et al., 1991 ), which are normally
processed by the regulated pathway, redirects these proteins into the
constitutive pathway. In the absence of furin cleavage, the precursor
remains intact, and sorting signals that direct the protein to the
regulated pathway become functional. This may explain why pro-BDNF,
which likely eludes furin cleavage in the TGN, is targeted to the
regulated pathway where its processing appears to occur in secretory granules.
Differences between pro-BDNF and pro-NGF processing may therefore arise
because of the furin sensitivity of their pro-protein processing
cleavage sites. In pro-NGF (Arg-Ser-Lys-Arg Ser) the site is highly
suited to furin processing, whereas the analogous site in pro-BDNF
(Arg-Val-Arg-Arg His) is less suitable because of the replacement of
Ser in the +1 position (P1) of NGF with His in the P1 of BDNF (Seidah
et al., 1996a ). Sequences with His at P1 show reduced sensitivity to
furin-mediated cleavage (Ogi et al., 1990 ; Matthews et al., 1994 ).
Our results are consistent with this model. In constitutively secreting
cells with moderate levels of furin-like enzymes, such as fibroblasts
and Schwann cells (M. Marcinkiewicz and N. G. Seidah, unpublished
observations), pro-NGF and pro-BDNF are cleaved, with only low levels
of unprocessed precursor secreted constitutively. In AtT 20 cells and
hippocampal neurons with lower levels of furin (Seidah et al., 1994 ),
pro-NGF is cleaved efficiently, and NGF is released constitutively.
When furin cleavage is inhibited with 1-PDX, pro-NGF is not cleaved
efficiently, some sorting occurs into the regulated secretory pathway,
where some of the protein can be released by depolarization, and some
unprocessed precursor is secreted constitutively. In contrast, pro-BDNF
avoids furin cleavage and is sorted into the regulated secretory
pathway, and some unprocessed precursor is secreted constitutively into conditioned medium. Constitutive release of other precursors normally processed in the regulated pathway has also been reported (Kelly et
al., 1983 ; Moore et al., 1983 ; Brechler et al., 1996 )
An increasing number of reports suggest that BDNF, but not NGF, is
anterogradely transported within axons in brain neurons to carry out a
number of physiological actions [Altar et al. (1997) ; Fawcett et al.
(1998) ; for review, see Altar and DiStefano (1998) ]. Also, BDNF is
enriched in a microvesicular fraction of rat brain synaptosomes along
with synaptotagmin, a protein associated with synaptic and large
dense-core vesicles in nerve terminals (Fawcett et al., 1997 ). BDNF
immunoreactivity is also present in mossy fiber terminals in the
hippocampus (Conner et al., 1997 ; Fawcett et al., 1997 ) and in
large dense-core vesicles of axon terminals in lamina II of lumbar
spinal cord (Michael et al., 1997 ). BDNF can be transported
anterogradely in neurons within the visual system (von Bartheld et al.,
1996 ) and released by depolarization in a calcium-dependent mechanism
from virus-infected hippocampal neurons (Goodman et al., 1996 ). Taken
together, these data are consistent with BDNF being packaged within
secretory vesicles of the regulated pathway. Presumably these granules
are targeted to axons, although transport may occur to other parts of
the cell as well.
Fewer studies have monitored the processing of NGF in cells containing
the regulated pathway. Edwards et al. (1988) reported that AtT 20 cells
secrete VV-encoded NGF in response to cAMP, suggesting regulated
release. In that study, they infected cells with an MOI of 10-20 as
opposed to an MOI of 1 in our study, which explains why their results
and ours differ (Fig. 13). Overloading the furin pathway beyond its
capacity may drive NGF into the regulated pathway, as does inhibiting
furin with 1-PDX (Figs. 11, 12). In a similar manner, overexpressing
2-microglobulin in pancreatic cells drives the protein from the
constitutive pathway into secretory vesicles of the regulated pathway
(Allison et al., 1991 ). In contrast, reducing infectivity from 1 to
0.02 MOI had no effect on the sorting of BDNF, although we cannot rule
out the possibility that local concentration effects contributed to
BDNF's sorting into the regulated pathway.
Heymach et al. (1996) reported that AtT 20 cells release NGF as well as
BDNF and NT-3 in response to secretagogues. It may be that in those
studies the level of NGF production was above the threshold levels in
which NGF is shunted from the constitutive pathway into the regulated
pathway. Heymach et al. (1996) used transfection instead of infection,
expressed the neurotrophins using a different promoter, and treated
cells with secretagogues for a longer time, which may further explain
why their conclusions differ from ours. Blochl and Thoenen (1995)
hypothesized that there is both constitutive and regulated
sodium-dependent release of NGF from neurons. They suggest that release
occurs independent of extracellular calcium, which is essential for
protein release in the regulated pathway (DeCamilli and Jahn, 1990 ),
including the release of BDNF (Goodman et al., 1996 ). Canossa et
al. (1997) extended these findings by reporting that neurotrophins can
also induce neurotrophin release from neurons (also see Kruttgen et al., 1998 ). These conflicting data need to be investigated further.
Our results provide a mechanism whereby neurotrophins in brain neurons
can act either as survival factors or as neuropeptides. When
neurotrophins are cleaved by furin, the bioactive peptide may be
released constitutively to promote neuronal survival. Perhaps this
explains how hippocampal neurons constantly provide NGF to innervating
cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain. In contrast, BDNF may avoid
furin cleavage and be sorted into the regulated secretory pathway where
it is processed by PC1 (Seidah et al., 1996a ) and released in an
activity-dependent manner similar to other neuropeptides. This may be
the mechanism that allows BDNF to alter synaptic transmission,
connectivity, and synaptic plasticity in an activity-dependent manner
(Ghosh, 1996 ). Also, perhaps neurons modulate the physiological fates
of neurotrophins by regulating furin levels and thus the intracellular
sorting of the neurotrophins they produce.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
Received Nov. 17, 1998; revised Dec. 22, 1998; accepted Dec. 31, 1998.
We thank Amgen for providing the antibody to brain-derived neurotrophic
factor. This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research
Council of Canada to R.A.M., W.S.S., and N.G.S., and by funding from
the National Centres of Excellence Program in Neuroscience to R.A.M.
and N.G.S. S.J.M. is supported by a studentship from the Iranian
Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, W.S.S. is a Scholar of the
EJLB foundation, and J.P.F. is supported by a studentship from the Rick
Hansen Foundation.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Richard A. Murphy, Montreal
Neurological Institute, McGill University, 3801 University Street,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2B4.
 |
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