Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) activates adenylylcyclase in sympathoadrenal cells at concentrations greater than 10(-6) M. We demonstrate here that two forms of a newly discovered peptide with homology to VIP named pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) are much more potent activators of signal transduction in PC12 cells. Both the 27- and 38-amino acid forms of PACAP el...

Background and objectivePTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) is a mitochondrial that regulates mitophagy. PINK1-deficient mAPP mice display low LC3B levels, PINK1 overexpression enhances autophagy increases the expression level of lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP1). The present study evaluated whether altered could modulate β-amyloid (Aβ)-treated mitophagy in PC12 cells, simple cell...

The PC12 pheochromocytoma cell line responds to NGF by undergoing growth arrest and proceeding to differentiate toward a neuronal phenotype. Among the early genetic events triggered by NGF in PC12 cells are the rapid activation of the zinc finger transcription factor Egr1/NGFI-A, and a slightly delayed induction of NAB2, a corepressor that inhibits Egr1 transcriptional activity. We found that s...

Activation of proteolytic enzymes, including the caspase family of proteinases, is a feature characteristic of the apoptotic program. In the present study, we examined a potential role of intracellular proteinases in the death of neuronal PC12 and primary cultured rat microglial cells induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). In both neuronal PC12 and microglial cells, 6-OHDA (10-200 microM) induc...

Exosomes deliver functional proteins and genetic materials to neighboring cells, and have potential applications for tissue regeneration. One possible mechanism of exosome-promoted tissue regeneration is through the delivery of microRNA (miRNA). In this study, we hypothesized that exosomes derived from neuronal progenitor cells contain miRNAs that promote neuronal differentiation. We treated me...

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are expressed in various sensory and central neurons. The functional role of these channels remains elusive. Complex subunit combinations and lack of specific blockers for native receptors are likely to contribute to the difficulty of resolving the function of ASICs. Finding a neuronal cell line, which expresses a single population of ASICs, should prove to be ...

BACKGROUND Hypoxia is an important sign that can result from body injuries or a special condition such as being at a high altitude or deep water diving. In the current studies, hypoxic preconditioning (HPC) plays a key role in reducing hypoxia-induced apoptosis. We aimed to study the pharmacologic preconditioning effects of salidroside versus those of HPC in hypoxia-/anoxia-induced apoptosis in...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, characterized by loss of dopominergic (DA) neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), and can be experimentally mimicked by the neurotoxin MPP(+) in vitro models. In this study, we investigated the potential protective effect of SKF-96365, a non-specific inhibitor of SOCE (store-operated calcium entry), on M...

Objective(s): In the current study antioxidant capacities of five different extracts of Artemisia ciniformis aerial parts were evaluated by cell-free methods. Then seven fractions of the potent extract were selected and their antioxidant capacity was assayed by cell free and cell based methods. Materials andMethods: Antioxidant ability was measured using the: 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DP...

Effects of a novel dihydropyridine type of antihypertensive drug, cilnidipine, on the regulation of the catecholamine secretion closely linked to the intracellular Ca2+ were examined using nerve growth factor (NGF)-differentiated rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. By measuring catecholamine secretion with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with an electrochemical detector, we showed t...