Expression and regulation of a glutamate receptor subunit by bFGF in oligodendrocyte progenitors

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Abstract
Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (O‐2A) express both kainate‐preferring and AMPA‐preferring glutamate receptors (Gallo et al., Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 18:653, 1992b; Gallo et al., 1994). The expression and regulation of the GluR‐4c, AMPA‐preferring subunit by growth factors was studied by Northern blot analysis of total RNA from purified rat cortical O‐2A progenitors. Differently from cortical neurons, O‐2A progenitors only expressed two high molecular weight GluR‐4c transcripts (6.2 and 4.2 kb), as observed also in cultured astrocytes. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) increased GluR‐4c transcript levels in O‐2A progenitors and its effects were not mimicked by platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) or fetal calf serum. Therefore, bFGF may regulate O‐2A progenitor responsiveness to glutamate during development through the expression of glutamate receptor subunits.