Effects of Hoechst 33342 on C2C12 and PC12 cell differentiation.

Accumulative evidence demonstrates that normal as well as cancer stem cells can be identified as a side population following Hoechst 33342 staining and flow cytometric analysis. This popular method is based on the ability of stem cells to efflux this fluorescent vital dye. We demonstrate that Hoechst 33342 can affect cell differentiation, suggesting potential complications in the interpretation of data.

N(6)-Methyldeoxyadenosine, a nucleoside commonly found in prokaryotes, induces C2C12 myogenic differentiation.

N(6)-methyl-2(')-deoxyadenosine (MedAdo) is a nucleoside naturally found in prokaryotic DNA. Interestingly, the N(6)-methylation of adenine in DNA seems to have been counter-selected during the course of evolution since MedAdo has not been detected in mammalian DNA until now. We show here that treatment with MedAdo induces myogenesis in C2C12 myoblasts.

Induction of neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells by the bacterial nucleoside N6-methyldeoxyadenosine is mediated through adenosine A2a receptors and via cAMP and MAPK signaling pathways.

We have previously shown that N(6)-methyldeoxyadenosine (MDA) is an inducer of differentiation in several tumor cells. Here we show that in addition to its ability to induce neurite-outgrowth in PC12 cells, MDA also significantly enhances the nerve-growth factor-mediated neurite outgrowth of these cells. Thus, MDA acts synergistically with NGF to repress cdc2 and cdk2 synthesis and to enhance tyrosine hydroxylase synthesis.