Ccaat/Enhancer Binding Protein Beta Is a Neuronal Transcriptional Regulator Activated By Nerve Growth Factor Receptor Signaling

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBP beta) is a transcriptional regulator of the basic leucine zipper family. By in situ hybridization analysis, we found that C/EBP beta is widely expressed in the CNS of adult mice, including cells of the hippocampus and dentate gyrus and cerebellar Purkinje and granule cells. Expression of C/EBP beta had also been reported in the PC12 cell line, which undergoes differentiation to neuron-like cells in response to nerve growth factor (NGF), We show that C/EBP beta mRNA expression increases while protein levels decrease during differentiation of PC12 cells. In transactivation assays, C/EBP beta activity was stimulated by NGF receptor signaling. Mutations of a phosphorylation site for mitogen-activated protein kinase in C/EBP beta affected its capacity to transactivate in a promoter-specific manner. Our data identify the C/EBP beta protein and gene as direct downstream targets of the NGF receptor and suggest a role for C/EBP beta in neurotrophin signaling in the brain. [References: 46]

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