Expression pattern of neuregulin-1 type III during the development of the peripheral nervous system

Neuregulin-1 type III is a key regulator in Schwann cell proliferation, committing to a myelinating fate and regulating myelin sheath thickness. However, the expression pattern of neuregulin-1 type III in the peripheral nervous system during developmental periods (such as the premyelinating stage, myelinating stage and postmyelinating stage) has rarely been studied. In this study, dorsal root ganglia were isolated from rats between postnatal day 1 and postnatal day 56. The expression pattern of neuregulin-1 type III in dorsal root ganglia neurons at various developmental stages were compared by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blot assay and immunofluorescent staining. The expression of neuregulin-1 type III mRNA reached its peak at postnatal day 3 and then stabilized at a relative high expression level from postnatal day 3 to postnatal day 56. The expression of neuregulin-1 type III protein increased gradually from postnatal day 1, reached a peak at postnatal day 28, and then decreased at postnatal day 56. Immunofluorescent staining results showed a similar tendency to western blot assay results. Experimental findings indicate that the expression of neuregulin-1 type III in rat dorsal root ganglion was increased during the premyelinating (from postnatal day 2 to postnatal day 5) and myelinating stage (from postnatal day 5 to postnatal day 10), but remained at a high level in the postmyelinating stage (after postnatal day 10).