INTRODUCTION Microfluidics systems usually consist of materials like PMMA--poly(methyl methacrylate) and PDMS--poly(dimethylsiloxane) and not polystyrene (PS), which is usually used for cell culture. Cellular and molecular responses in cells grown on PS are well characterized due to decades of accumulated research. In contrast, the experience base is limited for materials used in microfludics c...

Cellular attachment plays a vital role in the differentiation of pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. PC12 cells are noradrenergic clonal cells isolated from the adrenal medulla of Rattus norvegicus and studied extensively as they have the ability to differentiate into sympathetic neuron-like cells. The effect of several experimental parameters including (i) the concentration of nerve growth factor (...

the pathogenesis of equine grass sickness (egs) has not fully understood. a better understanding of the exact pathogenesis of diseases can help to make an accurate diagnosis. previous studies reported some pathological damage of neuronal cells in egs patients. in this study, primarily cytotoxicity of serum from three clinically egs-diagnosed horses on pc12 tet-off (pto) cells was assessed. subs...

Rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells undergo neuronal differentiation in response to nerve growth factor. We show here that exposure of PC12 cells to Nardostachys chinensis glycoside induces the outgrowth of neurites, increases the activity of AChE, triggers cell cycle arrest in G1 and enhances the expression of growth associated protein 43 (GAP-43). Both the outgrowth of neurites and the increase i...

Vitamin A (VA) has a number of important biological functions in human growth and development. Previous studies by our group demonstrated that the normal VA levels improved recovery of learning and memory function and decreased apoptosis in rats with hypoxic‑ischemic brain damage (HIBD). However, it has not been fully elucidated how VA regulates the apoptosis of neuronal cells. To investigate t...

We have used monolayers of control 3T3 cells and 3T3 cells expressing transfected human neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) or chick N-cadherin as a culture substrate for PC12 cells. NCAM and N-cadherin in the monolayer directly promote neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells via a G-protein-dependent activation of neuronal calcium channels. In the present study we show that ganglioside GM1 does not...

The cytoskeleton of the rat cultured cell line PC12, which is widely used in cell biology as a model system for neuron-like differentiation, displays an unusual combination of intermediate-sized filaments (IFs). As determined by electron microscopy, immunolocalization, and biochemical analyses, these cells contain, in addition to neurofilaments, an extended meshwork of bundles of cytokeratin IF...

High levels of the neuron-specific protein kinase C substrate, B-50 (= GAP43), are present in neurites and growth cones during neuronal development and regeneration. This suggests a hitherto nonelucidated role of this protein in neurite outgrowth. Comparable high levels of B-50 arise in the pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line during neurite formation. To get insight in the putative growth-associate...

GPR55 was recently identified as a putative receptor for certain cannabinoids, and lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI). Recently, the role of cannabinoids as GPR55 agonists has been disputed by a number of reports, in part, because studies investigating GPR55 often utilized overexpression systems, such as the GPR55-overexpressing HEK293 cells, which make it difficult to deduce the physiological role...

The PC12 clone is a line of rat pheochromocytoma cells which undergoes neuronal differentiation in the presence of nerve growth factor (NGF) protein. In the absence of NGF, PC12 cells are electrically inexcitable, while after several weeks of NGF treatment, they develop sodium action potentials. The number and density of sodium channels on PC12 cells before and after treatment with NGF were est...