Identification of genes induced by neuregulin in cultured myotubes

The formation of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) involves a series of inductive interactions between motor neurons and muscle fibers. The neural signals proposed to induce the mRNA expression of acetylcholine receptors in muscle include neuregulin (NRG). In the present study, we have employed RNA fingerprinting by arbitrarily primed PCR analysis to identify the differentially expressed transcripts following NRG treatment in cultured myotubes. Nine partial cDNA fragments were isolated; the mRNA expression of eight of these genes was found to be up-regulated by NRG. The spatial and temporal expression profiles of these NRG-regulated genes in rat tissues during development suggest potential functional roles during the formation of NMJ in vivo. Our findings not only allowed the identification of novel genes, but also suggested possible functions for some known genes that are consistent with their potential roles at the NMJ. Furthermore, the identification of G-protein beta1 subunit and G-protein-coupled receptor as NRG-regulated genes has provided the first demonstration that activation of the NRG signaling pathway can induce the expression of components in the G-protein signaling cascade.