Synthetic peptide corresponding to 30 amino acids of the C-terminal of neuron-specific enolase promotes survival of neocortical neurons in culture.

Neuron-specific enolase (NSE), one of the glycolytic enzymes, is a gamma gamma-isozyme of enolase that is specifically expressed in neurons. Our previous studies demonstrated that NSE promotes survival of rat embryonic neocortical neurons in culture but that the alpha alpha-isozyme (non-neuronal enolase; NNE) has no effect. In this study, we found that a synthetic peptide corresponding to the C-terminal portion of NSE (404-433) also promotes the survival of neocortical neurons. By contrast, a synthetic peptide of the C-terminal portion of NNE (404-433) has no effect on neuronal survival. These findings would be important for further analysis of the neurotrophic mechanism of NSE.