BACKGROUND Although p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) is the first neurotrophin receptor isolated, its diverse physiological functions and signaling have remained elusive for many years. Loss-of-function phenotypic analyses for p75NTR were mainly focused at the genetic level; however these approaches were impacted by off-target effect, insufficient stability, unspecific stress response or alte...

We have studied the role of vinculin in regulating integrin-dependent neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells, a neuronal cell line. Vinculin is a cytoskeletal protein believed to mediate interactions between integrins and the actin cytoskeleton. In differentiated PC12 cells, the cell body, the neurite, and the growth cone contain vinculin. Within the growth cone, both the proximal region of "consolida...

Members of a neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene cluster ordered b4, a3, a5 in the vertebrate genome are expressed in highly restricted patterns in the PNS and CNS. Nothing is known, however, about the regulatory elements that control transcription of these genes in selected neuronal cell populations. We report here a novel enhancer, designated b439, that is positioned in the...

Objective (s):Hyperglycemia is widely recognized as the underlying cause for some debilitating conditions in diabetic patients. The role of cannabinoid CB1 and vanilloid TRPV1 receptors and their endogenous agonists, endovanilloids, in diabetic neuropathy is shown in many studies. Here we have used PC12 cell line to investigate the possible influence of glucose concentration in culture medium o...

Recently use of endosulfan has aroused a great concern among clinical and basic neuroscientists as besides adult population even the children residing in some areas of touristic state of Kerala, India which are under constant spraying of endosulfan had shown symptoms of CNS dysfunctioning including cerebral palsy, retardation of mental and physical growth, epilepsy and various congenital anomal...

The rat adrenal pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line is one of the traditional models for the study of neurite outgrowth and growth cone behavior. To clarify to what extent PC12 neurite terminals can be compared to neuronal growth cones, we have analyzed their morphology and protein distribution in fixed PC12 cells by immunocytochemistry. Our results show that that PC12 cells display a special kind ...

Myc is a nuclear phosphoprotein which controls cellular proliferation, most likely by regulating gene activity. The finding that the neuronal model cell line PC12 lacks the Myc DNA binding partner, the Max protein, and the demonstration that Myc is a repressor of gene activity as well as a transactivator, lead to models for Myc action in regulating cell growth.

Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that Bcl-2 has a proapoptotic effect on neocarzinostatin (NCS)-treated PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. In the present study, we examine the mechanisms of this effect and demonstrate its relevance for the in vivo situation. Four hours after NCS treatment, a 23-kDa cleavage product of Bcl-2 was detected in whole cell lysates of bcl-2-transfected...