Differentiation of PC12 cells induced by N8-acetylspermidine and by N8-acetylspermidine deacetylase inhibition.

Spermidine is one of the simple polyamines found in cells of virtually all living organisms. It undergoes a metabolic conversion to N8-acetylspermidine catalyzed by an enzyme in cell nuclei and is converted back to spermidine by a deacetylase in the cytoplasm. In this study, two different mechanisms were used to produce an elevation in the level of N8-acetylspermidine in PC12 cells: inhibition of N8-acetylspermidine deacetylase and direct addition of N8-acetylspermidine to the cell culture.