The increasing use of mobile phone communication has raised concerns about possible health hazard effects of microwave irradiation. We investigated damage and differentiation of PC12 mutant cells (PC12m3 cells) caused by microwave irradiation. The frequency of neurite outgrowth induced by 2.45 GHz (200 W) of microwave irradiation was approximately 10-fold greater than that in non-irradiated con...

Here we show that secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) that is immunochemically indistinguishable from type II sPLA2 is (i) stored in neuroendocrine cells, (ii) released in response to neurotransmitters or depolarization, and (iii) involved in the regulation of catecholamine secretion by these cells. Rat brain synaptic vesicle fractions contained PLA2 activity, which was neutralized completely by...

Nerve growth factor (NGF)-driven differentiation of PC12 pheochromocytoma cells is a well studied model used both to identify molecular, biochemical, and physiological correlates of neurotrophin-driven neuronal differentiation and to determine the causal nature of specific events in this differentiation process. Although epidermal growth factor (EGF) elicits many of the same early biochemical a...

Abstract Stroke causes death and disability globally but no neuroprotectant is approved for post-stroke neuronal injury. Neuroprotective compounds can be identified using oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) of cells as an in vitro stroke model. Nerve growth factor (NGF)-differentiated PC12 pheochromocytoma are frequently used. However, investigators often find their clonal variant undifferentiable...

Previous studies have indicated that heavy metal exposure can have an effect on the central nervous system. However, research has been inadequate to fully support this claim. The aim of this work was to determine the toxic effects of heavy metal ions including Fe, Fe, Hg, Mn, Cd, Mg, and Pb on nerve cells (e.g. PC12). PC12 cells were incubated with the metal ions at four concentrations, i.e. 12...

Rat pheochromocytoma cells (clone PC12) respond to nerve growth factor (NGF) by the acquirement of a phenotype resembling neuronal cells. In an earlier study we showed that NGF causes an increase in Na+,K+ pump activity, as monitored by ouabain-sensitive Rb+ influx. Here we show that addition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to PC12 cells resulted in a stimulation of Na+,K+ pump activity as wel...

To assess a possible role for the Src homology 2 (SH2) domain adaptor protein Shb in PC12 cell signal transduction and differentiation, we have investigated the expression of Shb in PC12 cells and found that the differentiation factors nerve growth factor (NGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), as well as the PC12 cell mitogen epidermal growth factor, increased Shb protein expression a...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a key mediator that plays an important role in pathogenesis of various chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, there is a great attitude for finding natural compounds, which could control and inhibit NO production in pathological conditions. Therefore, we were encouraged to investigate the effects of some Lamiaceae species on NO prod...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a key mediator that plays an important role in pathogenesis of various chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, there is a great attitude for finding natural compounds, which could control and inhibit NO production in pathological conditions. Therefore, we were encouraged to investigate the effects of some Lamiaceae species on NO prod...