G protein coupled receptor 50 promotes self-renewal and neuronal differentiation of embryonic neural progenitor cells through regulation of notch and wnt/β-catenin signalings.

G protein-coupled receptor 50 (GPR50), a risk factor for major depressive disorder and bipolar affective disorder, is expressed in both the developmental and adult brain. However, the function of GPR50 in the brain remains unknown. We here show GPR50 is expressed by neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in the ventricular zone of embryonic brain. Knockdown of GPR50 with a small interference RNA (siRNA) decreased self-renewal and neuronal differentiation, but not glial differentiation of NPCs. Moreover, overexpression of either full-length GPR50 or the intracellular domain of GPR50, rather than the truncated GPR50 in which the intracellular domain is deleted in, increased neuronal differentiation, indicating that GPR50 promotes neuronal differentiation of NPCs in an intracellular domain-dependent manner. We further described that the transcriptional activity of the intracellular domain of notch on Hes1 gene was repressed by overexpression of GPR50. In addition, decreased levels of transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) mRNA was observed in GPR50 siRNA-transfected NPCs, suggesting that knockdown of GPR50 impairs wnt/β-catenin signaling. Moreover, the mRNA levels of neurogenin (Ngn) 1, Ngn2 and cyclin D1, the target genes of notch and wnt/β-catenin signalings, in NPCs were reduced by knockdown of GPR50. Therefore, GPR50 promotes self-renewal and neuronal differentiation of NPCs possibly through regulation of notch and wnt/β-catenin signalings.