We previously reported that rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells express the neuronal differentiated phenotype under hyperoxia through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In the present study, we found that in this phenotype, Bcl-2, an apoptosis inhibitor, affects mitogen-activated protein (MAP)-kinase activity, which is known as a key enzyme of the signal-transduction cascade for diffe...

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) are closely related members of the secretin superfamily of neuropeptides expressed in both the brain and peripheral nervous system, and they exhibit neurotrophic and neurodevelopmental effects in vivo. Like the index member of the Trk receptor ligand family, nerve growth factor (NGF), PACAP pr...

In tissue culture, rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells differentiated with nerve growth factor (NGF) cease division, extend neuritic processes and acquire many properties characteristic of neuronal cells. In previous work, we have shown that NGF-differentiated PC12 cells can survive infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and maintain the viral genome in a quiescent but reactivatable s...

The rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line differentiates into a sympathetic neuronal phenotype upon treatment with either nerve growth factor (NGF) or basic fibroblast growth factor. The alkaloid-like compound K-252a has been demonstrated to be a specific inhibitor of NGF-induced biological responses in PC12 cells (Koizumi, S., Contreras, M. L., Matsuda, Y., Hama, T., Lazarovici, P., and Guroff, ...

Oxidative stress, owing to the excessive production of ROS (reactive oxygen species), is one of the leading causes for the progression of AD (Alzheimer’s disease). Increasing evidences suggested that oxidative stress insult impaired the physiological functioning of neuronal cells by inducing cell apoptosis. The search for drug candidates that can effectively protect neurons from oxidative stres...

IL-6 induces differentiation of PC12 cells pretreated with nerve growth factor (NGF). We explored the signals required for neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells by using a series of mutants of a chimeric receptor consisting of the extracellular domain of the granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) receptor and the cytoplasmic domain of gp130, a signal-transducing subunit of the IL-6 receptor. T...

Nerve growth factor induces PC12 cells to differentiate from a chromaffin cell to a sympathetic neuronal phenotype. In contrast, PC12 cells, which stably express Wnt-1, a secreted signaling factor required for development of mammalian midbrain and cerebellum, fail to express differentiation-specific genes in response to nerve growth factor. Analysis of factors binding to E box-containing regula...

The Rac-GEF P-Rex1 promotes membrane ruffling and cell migration in response to Rac activation, but its role in neuritogenesis is unknown. Rac1 promotes neurite differentiation; Rac3, however, may play an opposing role. Here we report that in nerve growth factor (NGF)-differentiated rat PC12 cells, P-Rex1 localised to the distal tips of developing neurites and to the axonal shaft and growth con...

The actin-based cytoskeleton is essential for the generation and maintenance of cell polarity, cellular motility, and the formation of neural cell processes. MRP2 is an actin-binding protein of the kelch-related protein family. While MRP2 has been shown to be expressed specifically in brain, its function is still unknown. Here, we report that in neuronal growth factor (NGF)-induced PC12 cells, ...

The presence of unique proteins in synaptic vesicles of neurons suggests selective targeting during vesicle formation. Endocrine, but not other cells, also express synaptic vesicle membrane proteins and target them selectively to small intracellular vesicles. We show that the rat pheochromocytoma cell line, PC12, has a population of small vesicles with sedimentation and density properties very ...