F3 neuronal adhesion molecule controls outgrowth and fasciculation of cerebellar granule cell neurites: a cell-type-specific effect mediated by the Ig-like domains.

F3 is a glycane phosphatidylinositol-anchored neuronal adhesion glycoprotein which consists of immunoglobulin (Ig) domains and fibronectin type III repeats. Here we showed that total F3 or F3-Ig domains when presented as membrane components of CHO transfected cells influenced growth cone morphology, strongly inhibited outgrowth, and induced fasciculation of cerebellar granule cell axons. An F3-Ig-Fc chimera induced neurite fasciculation from cerebellar neuron aggregates when used as a coated substrate but not in the soluble form. The F3 effect on neurite elongation is highly specific for neuronal cell types since under the same experimental conditions it did not modify neurite outgrowth of hippocampal neurons and was shown to stimulate elongation of neurites from sensory neurons in both membrane-anchored and soluble form. Our results provide evidence to extend the proposed role of F3 and strongly suggest that axonal-growth-controlling molecules may quite generally exert dual actions which are likely to depend on the receptor repertoire of the responding neuron.