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 ...

Actin polymerization is a universal mechanism to drive plasma membrane protrusion in motile cells. One apparent exception to this rule is continuing, or even accelerated outgrowth of neuronal processes in the presence of actin polymerization inhibitors. This fact together with a key role of microtubule dynamics in neurite outgrowth led to the concept that microtubules directly drive plasma memb...

Chronic irradiation with low-dose-rate 137Cs-γ rays inhibits the differentiation of human neural progenitor cells and influences the expression of proteins associated with several cellular functions. We aimed to determine whether such chronic irradiation influences the expression of proteins associated with PC12 cells. Chronic irradiation at 0.027 mGy/min resulted in inhibition of NGF-induced n...

Small GTPase Rab35 is an important molecular switch for endocytic recycling that regulates various cellular processes, including cytokinesis, cell migration, and neurite outgrowth. We previously showed that active Rab35 promotes nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells by recruiting MICAL-L1, a multiple Rab-binding protein, to Arf6-positive recycling endosomes. However,...

In the preceding paper (Salzer et al ., 1980, J. Cell Biol. 84:753-766), evidence was presented that a neurite membrane fraction could be used to stimulate Schwann cell proliferation in culture . In this study, we present evidence that the mitogenic signal by which intact neurites or neurite membranes stimulate Schwann cell proliferation is located at the neurite surface . This conclusion is ba...

Neurite outgrowth is essential for development of the nervous system. Neurotrophins including BDNF are among extracellular signals that regulate neurite outgrowth. The ERK1/2 pathway contributes to intracellular signaling networks transducing the pro-neuritic effects of BDNF. In the nucleolus, RNA polymerase-1 (Pol1)-mediated transcription regulates ribosomal biogenesis, enabling cellular prote...

Estrogen stimulates the neurite outgrowth response of medial basal hypothalamic neurons maintained in culture. We show here that one effect of estrogen is to promote an increase in tau, but not in tubulin, microtubule-associated protein 1a (MAP-1a), or MAP-2 protein levels. This response precedes and accompanies an increase in stable microtubules and in neurite length. Taken collectively, our d...

Neuritic extension is the resultant of two vectorial processes: outgrowth and retraction. Whereas myosin IIB is required for neurite outgrowth, retraction is driven by a motor whose identity has remained unknown until now. Preformed neurites in mouse Neuro-2A neuroblastoma cells undergo immediate retraction when exposed to isoform-specific antisense oligonucleotides that suppress myosin IIB exp...