A novel function of transcription factor α-Pal/NRF-1: Increasing neurite outgrowth

α-Pal/NRF-1 is a critical regulator of the promoter of human IAP/CD47 gene, a gene related to memory formation in rodents. However, its function in neurons was unknown. We found that stable or transient expression of full-length α-Pal/NRF-1 in human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells significantly induced neurite outgrowth and increased the length of neurites both in medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum and in serum-free medium. In contrast, the dominant-negative mutant of α-Pal/NRF-1 inhibited the induction and extension of neurites. Ectopic expression of full-length α-Pal/NRF-1 also increased the induction of neurite outgrowth in primary mouse cortical neurons. The IAP antisense cDNA significantly inhibited the increase of neurite outgrowth by α-Pal/NRF-1. These findings indicate that a novel function of α-Pal/NRF-1 is to regulate neuronal differentiation, and that this function is mediated partly via its downstream IAP gene.