PHCCC, a specific enhancer of type 4 metabotropic glutamate receptors, reduces proliferation and promotes differentiation of cerebellar granule cell neuroprecursors

Endogenously activated mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptors sustain the increase in c-Myc expression induced by leukaemia inhibitory factor in cultured mouse embryonic stem cells

We have shown that endogenous activation of type 5 metabotropic glutamate (mGlu5) receptors supports the maintenance of a pluripotent, undifferentiated state in D3 mouse embryonic stem cells cultured in the presence of leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Here, we examined the interaction between LIF and mGlu5 receptors using as a read-out the immediate early gene, c-Myc. The selective mGlu5 receptor antagonist, 2-methyl-6-(phenylenthynyl)pyridine (MPEP; 1 mum), reduced the increase in c-Myc protein levels induced by LIF by enhancing c-Myc ubiquitination. A reduction in c-Myc levels was also observed following small interfering RNA-mediated mGlu5 receptor gene silencing. MPEP reduced glycogen synthase kinase-3beta phosphorylation on Ser9, but increased phosphorylation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3-K) substrate, AKT. In our hands, activated PI-3-K reduced the stability of c-Myc, because (i) the PI-3-K inhibitor, LY294002, prevented the reduction in c-Myc levels induced by MPEP; and (ii) over-expression of AKT promoted c-Myc ubiquitination. All effects of MPEP were mimicked by protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors and reversed by the PKC activator, tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. We conclude that endogenous activation of mGlu5 receptors sustains the increase in c-Myc induced by LIF in embryonic stem cells by inhibiting both glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and PI-3-K, both effects resulting from the activation of PKC.

Pharmacological activation of mGlu4 metabotropic glutamate receptors inhibits the growth of medulloblastomas

Moving from the evidence that activation of type 4 metabotropic glutamate (mGlu4) receptors inhibits proliferation and promotes differentiation of cerebellar granule cell neuroprogenitors, we examined the expression and function of mGlu4 receptors in medulloblastoma cells. mGlu4 receptors were expressed in 46 of 60 human medulloblastoma samples. Expression varied in relation to the histotype (nodular desmoplastic>classic>>large-cell anaplastic) and was inversely related to tumor severity, spreading, and recurrence. mGlu4 receptors were also found in D283med, D341med, and DAOY medulloblastoma cell lines, where receptor activation with the selective enhancer PHCCC inhibited adenylyl cyclase and the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathway without affecting the mitogen-activated protein kinase, Sonic Hedgehog, and Wnt pathways. Interestingly, mGlu4 receptor activation reduced DNA synthesis and cell proliferation in all three cell lines. This effect was abrogated by the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 [2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one]. In in vivo experiments, repeated subcutaneous injections of N-phenyl-7-(hydroxyimino)cyclopropa[b]chromen-1a-carboxamide (PHCCC) reduced the growth of D283med and DAOY cell xenografts in nude mice. More remarkably, subcutaneous or intracranial injections of PHCCC during the first week of life prevented the development of medulloblastomas in mice lacking one Patched-1 allele and x-irradiated 1 d after birth. These data suggest that mGlu4 receptor enhancers are promising drugs for the treatment of medulloblastomas.

Context-dependent regulation of embryonic stem cell differentiation by mGlu4 metabotropic glutamate receptors

The mGlu5 receptor is the only metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype expressed by mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells grown under non-differentiating conditions [Cappuccio, I., Spinanti, P. Porcellini, A., Desiderati, F., De Vita, T., Storto, M., Capobianco, L., Battaglia, G., Nicoletti, F., Melchiorri, D., 2005. Endogenous activation of mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptors supports self-renewal of cultured mouse embryonic stem cells. Neuropharmacology 1, 196-205]. We now report that ES cells differentiating into embryoid bodies (EBs) progressively lose mGlu5 receptors and begin to express mGlu4 receptors at both mRNA and proteinc level. A 4-day treatment of EBs with the mGlu4 receptor agonist, L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutanoate (L-AP4), increased mRNA levels of the mesoderm marker, brachyury and the endoderm marker, H19, and decreased the expression of the transcript for the primitive ectoderm marker, fibroblast-growth factor-5 (FGF-5). These effects were prevented by the mGlu4 receptor antagonists, alpha-methylserine-O-phosphate (MSOP). Plating of EBs for 4 days in vitro in ITSFn medium induced cell differentiation towards a neural lineage, as reflected by the expression of the intermediate filament protein, nestin, and the homeobox protein, Dlx-2. Pharmacological activation of mGlu4 receptors during cell incubation in ITSFn medium increased the expression of both neural markers. Similar results were obtained when neural differentiation was induced by exposure of EBs to retinoic acid. These data suggest that differentiation of cultured ES cells is associated with changes in the expression pattern of mGlu receptors and that activation of mGlu4 receptors affects cell differentiation in a context-dependent manner.