Enhanced neuronal differentiation of pheochromocytoma 12 cells on polydopamine-modified surface.

Since pheochromocytoma 12 (PC12) cells have the ability of neuronal differentiation upon nerve growth factor (NGF) treatment, they are a good model for studying the neuronal differentiation. Establishing a strong adhesion of PC12 cells to the culture substrate may increase neuronal differentiation, and the use of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), which is responsible for the adhesive property of mussel adhesive proteins (MAPs), is a feasible strategy for such strong adhesion. We hypothesized that a polydopamine-modified surface can promote PC12 cell adhesion and subsequent neuronal differentiation.

Berberine promotes axonal regeneration in injured nerves of the peripheral nervous system.

Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid component of Coptidis Rhizoma (goldenthread) extract, has been reported to have therapeutic potential for central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, cerebral ischemia, and schizophrenia. We have previously shown that berberine promotes the survival and differentiation of hippocampal precursor cells. In a memory-impaired rat model induced by ibotenic acid injection, the survival of pyramidal and granular cells was greatly increased in the hippocampus by berberine administration.

Enhanced nerve growth factor efficiency in neural cell culture by immobilization on the culture substrate.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) immobilization on a culture substrate may dramatically reduce the amount of NGF required for pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell culture. Coverslips on which NGF had been immobilized, or with NGF added to the culture medium daily, were used to culture PC12 cells. We examined the effects of adding 5, 10, or 100 ng of NGF to cultures daily, and compared them to the effects of immobilizing 5, 10, or 100 ng of NGF on culture substrates in a single dose.

p62 protects SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells against H2O2-induced injury through the PDK1/Akt pathway.

The p62 protein has been identified as a major component of the protein aggregations associated with neurodegenerative disease. Oxidative insult has also been identified as a principal cause of neurodegenerative disease. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the potential role of p62 in oxidative stress-induced cell death in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells.

The effect of the controlled release of nerve growth factor from collagen gel on the efficiency of neural cell culture.

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the amount of nerve growth factor (NGF) required for pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell culture can be dramatically reduced by controlled release of NGF from a collagen gel coating on the culture surface. Cells were cultured on collagen gels loaded with various amounts of NGF. As a control, PC12 cells were cultured on collagen gels with daily addition of various amounts of NGF to the culture medium.

Distinct effect of neurotrophins delivered simultaneously by an adenoviral vector on neurite outgrowth of neural precursor cells from different regions of the brain.

For many years, it has been demonstrated that neurotrophins regulate the adult nervous system, implicating their potential as therapeutic agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. We generated adenoviral vectors encoding brain-derived neutotrophin factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT3) and tested either separately or together for the ability to induce differentiation of neuronal precursor cells with two different origins. Separate transduction of adenovirus delivering BDNF (BDNF-Ad) or NT3 (NT3-Ad) induced the neuronal differentiation in hippocampal and cortical precursor cells.

Shp2 is involved in neuronal differentiation of hippocampal precursor cells.

HiB5 is a multipotent hippocampal stem cell line whose differentiation into cells of a neuronal phenotype is promoted by neurotrophic factors such as PDGF and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We examined the potential role of Src homology 2 (SH2)-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase (Shp2) in this differentiation process. We found that Shp2 became tyrosine phosphorylated following PDGF treatment.