The Endocannabinoid System Promotes Astroglial Differentiation by Acting on Neural Progenitor Cells

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Endocannabinoids exert an important neuromodulatory role via presynaptic cannabinoid CB1receptors and may also participate in the control of neural cell death and survival. The function of the endocannabinoid system has been extensively studied in differentiated neurons, but its potential role in neural progenitor cells remains to be elucidated. Here we show that the CB1receptor and the endocannabinoid-inactivating enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase are expressed, bothin vitroandin vivo, in postnatal radial glia (RC2+cells) and in adult nestin type I (nestin+GFAP+) neural progenitor cells. Cell culture experiments show that CB1receptor activation increases progenitor proliferation and differentiation into astroglial cellsin vitro.In vivoanalysis evidences that, in postnatalCB1−/−mouse brain, progenitor proliferation and astrogliogenesis are impaired. Likewise, in adult CB1-deficient mice, neural progenitor proliferation is decreased but is increased in fatty acid amide hydrolase-deficient mice. In addition, endocannabinoid signaling controls neural progenitor differentiation in the adult brain by promoting astroglial differentiation of newly born cells. These results show a novel physiological role of endocannabinoids, which constitute a new family of signaling cues involved in the regulation of neural progenitor cell function.
Keywords