Effects of transforming growth factor-beta and platelet-derived growth factor on oligodendrocyte precursors: insights gained from a neuronal cell line.

Conditioned medium derived from a rat central nervous system neuronal cell line B104 (B104 CM) was shown previously to contain uncharacterized potent mitogen(s) for oligodendrocyte/type-2 astrocyte (O-2A) progenitor cells. In this study, we demonstrated that B104 cells produce and secrete platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-AA homodimer, but not PDGF-B chain. B104 cells did not express other known potent mitogens for O-2A progenitor cells, including fibroblast growth factor-2 and neurotrophin-3. Unexpectedly, B104 cells also expressed transcripts of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and -beta2 (TGF-beta2), which are known to regulate O-2A progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation, and secreted exclusively the 25-kDa active forms of TGF-beta1 and TGF-beta2. Neutralization of B104 CM with anti-PDGF-AA antibody decreased proliferation of O-2A progenitor cells, whereas neutralization with anti-TGF-beta antibodies had no effect. The combination of PDGF and TGF-beta on proliferation was not equivalent to the effect of B104 CM, indicating the possibility of an unidentified growth factor. B104 CM maintained a high expression of PDGF-alpha receptor in oligodendrocytes. The observation that both a stimulatory factor (PDGF-AA) and a regulatory factor (TGF-beta) for O-2A progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation are produced from a single neuronal cell line emphasizes the potential critical interaction between neurons and O-2A progenitor cells in myelination and possibly in remyelination.