Transcriptional regulation of artemin is related to neurite outgrowth and actin polymerization in mature DRG neurons

Artemin is a member of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family of ligands that helps to ensure the survival of sensory neurons. We used an in vitro isolated dorsal root ganglia model to study the effects of artemin on the adult rat neuronal system and investigate differentially regulated genes. We found that 285 genes were differentially transcribed by artemin after 3 h of treatment, including genes related to cell adhesion and actin polymerization. A series of genes involved in the regulation of actin dynamics, including coronin, Myr 5, Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein interacting protein, cofilin, drebrin and dynamin were down-regulated by artemin, suggesting that it plays a previously undefined role in the regulation of actin polymerization and synaptic vesicle movement. Artemin also down-regulated the expression of genes related to cell adhesion and matrix assembly, including biglycan, plectin, nestin, neuronatin and the neuron-glia-CAM-related cell adhesion molecule, which is functionally relevant to neurite elongation in DRG neurons. Artemin resulted in increases in total neurite length and branching of the DRG neurons. Also artemin caused an increase of synaptic vesicle clustering. Our results showed that the inhibition of DNA methylation suppressed the artemin-dependent neurite growth, suggesting that the genetic regulation could be relevant to neurite elongation in mature DRG.