Fig. 4From: Immunoglobulins stimulate cultured Schwann cell maturation and promote their potential to induce axonal outgrowthShort term IVIG effect on myelin gene expression and signaling molecules. a–l Gene expression measurements of non-differentiating Schwann cells (non-diff.) were performed after 1 and 3 days of IVIG, IgG1 control (IgG1 ctrl), and control buffer (ctrl) treatment. a–h Quantitative RT-PCR measurements of myelin gene expression showed consistent and significant upregulation of myelin genes after 1 day (1d) stimulation with 20 mg/ml dialysed IVIG (gray bars) as opposed to control buffer (black bars) stimulations. Myelin gene expression after 3 days (3d) IVIG stimulation was diminished. i–k Gene expression of important Schwann cell differentiation-related transcription factors was also increased upon 1 day IVIG stimulation. l Application of the human IgG1 Synagis (20 mg/ml, dialysed) did not affect MBP gene expression. GAPDH was used for normalization. m,n Western blot analysis (representative experiments) of signaling pathways related proteins revealed an increase in differentiation associated phospho-Akt (p-Akt) 1 day after IVIG treatment. Differentiation inhibitors such as phosphorylated forms of p38MAPK (m) or PTEN (n) were downregulated upon IVIG stimulation. Expression of cJun (n) was not changed after IVIG incubation. Actin was used for normalization and protein molecular weights are indicated in kDa (kilodalton). t test (ns, not significant, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001). Error bars represent SEM. Number of experiments: n = 18 for a, b, n = 7 for c, d, g, n = 4 for e, h, n = 11 for f, n = 5 for i, j, k, n = 3 for l, n = 2 for m, n Back to article page