Evaluation of Expression of a New Isoform djGDNF47 in Neural Cells

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a protein belonging to a large group of proteins called neurotrophic factors. GDNF ensures the development of the nervous system during embryogenesis, supports the process of neuronal differentiation in the adult organism, and promotes the survival of neurons throughout their lifetime. Early experiments as well as clinical trials showed the possibility of using GDNF as a therapeutic factor for adjuvant therapy of a number of diseases of the nervous system: Parkinson’s disease, ischemic stroke, and spinal cord disorders. Failures in clinical trials have led to a search for possible alternatives that would allow GDNF to be used effectively in therapy. One such option was the search for GDNF isoforms and the study of their possible neuroprotective and neuroinductive potential. A new splice variant of GDNF was discovered and named djGDNF47. In this work, we show the localization of a novel GDNF isoform, djGDNF47, in the brains of 10-days-old and adult rats. We show that djGDNF47 is predominantly expressed in young neurons of the subventricular zone (SVZ). The expression of djGDNF47 was also evaluated in pathological cell model (a human glioblastoma cell culture), where it was detected in CD133+ cells with conditional stemness.