Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Katanin p60 on the neurite growth and collateral formation in the hippocampus.
Methods: Gene cloning was performed to construct the Katanin p60 eukaryotic vector. The microtubule cutting effect and protein expression of Katanin p60 were investigated in 293T cells. Then, these vectors were transfected into hippocampal neurons of rats, and the effects of Katanin p60 on the neurite growth and collateral formation were observed.
Results: In the present study, we successfully constructed Katanin p60-GFP recombinant plasmids. After transfecting into 293T cells, the Katanin p60 was over-expressed in these cells, the mesh-like structure of microtubules was disrupted, the residual microtubules circled the nucleus, the expression microtubule proteins reduced, and the tapered protrusions disappeared. In hippocampal neurons with Katanin p60 over-expression, the neural neurite growth was obvious, and a lot of dendrites arose from cell bodies. In cells without Katanin p60 expression, the neurites were small, and the number and length of dendrites reduced significantly when compared with Katanin p60 over-expressing cells (P < 0.05). In addition, in Katanin p60 over-expressing cells, the number of collaterals from the neurites and dendrites increased markedly when compared with cells without Katanin p60 expression (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Katanin p60 can promote the neurite growth and collateral formation of hippocampal neurons.
Keywords: Katanin; collateral; hippocampus; microtubule; neurite; neuron.