Fndc5 overexpression facilitated neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells

Fndc5 has been recently recognized as a myokine which could be cleaved and secreted into blood stream. It is termed as irisin with an important role in thermogenesis and energy homeostasis. Increased expression of Fndc5 has been reported upon retinoic acid treatment during neural differentiation and its knockdown decreased neural differentiation and neurite outgrowth. This study tries to evaluate the effect of Fndc5 overexpression on rate of neural differentiation in mouse. (Thus, transduced cell line of mouse embryonic stem cell with ability to express Fndc5 under Doxycycline treatment was established. Subsequently, the effect of overexpression of Fndc5 on different stages of neural differentiation was studied). Our study showed an increase enhancement in neuronal precursor markers and mature neuron markers upon overexpression of Fndc5, concluding that Fndc5 facilitates neural differentiation. This effect might be related to increased expression of BDNF following overexpression of Fndc5. Our findings are consistent with recent studies reporting a similar role for Fndc5 in proliferation of neural cells and increase in the expression of neurotrophins like BDNF.