The correlation between insulin and OCT-6 transcription factor in Schwann cells and sciatic nerve of diabetic rats

Abstract

Insulin signal is one of the vital signaling cascade required for Schwann cells to myelinate the axons of peripheral nervous system (PNS). Myelin formation of peripheral nerve is a complex molecular event controlled by different neurotrophic and transcription factors. The altered or failure in this signaling progression is one of the reasons behind the demyelination of peripheral neurons in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The Schwann cell in PNS includes POU domain transcription factor OCT-6 expression. This factor is considered as crucial for the initiation and enhancement of myelination during nerve regeneration. To know the importance of OCT-6 gene, here we studied the long term expression of OCT-6 nuclear protein in sciatic nerve of normal and diabetic neuropathic rats. Also for the first time we elucidated the role of insulin in controlling the expression of OCT-6 in hyperglycemic Schwann cells and sciatic nerve of diabetic neuropathic rats. The results shows that, there will be long term OCT-6 expression in sciatic nerve of adult rats and also their significant decrease is observed in the diabetic condition. But, addition of Insulin for primary Schwann cells and diabetic rats shows the increased OCT-6 expression in both in vivo and in vitro. Together these results indicate the failure of OCT-6 support in neuropathy and also the importance of insulin signaling cascade in the expression of OCT-6 transcription factor. Keywords: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy, Insulin, OCT-6, Schwann cells, Sciatic nerve