| First Author | Gomez J | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | J Neurosci Res | Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 119-28 |
| PubMed ID | 9452316 | Mgi Jnum | J:45126 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1194432 | Doi | 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4547(19980101)51:1<119::AID-JNR13>3.0.CO;2-6 |
| Citation | Gomez J, et al. (1998) Overexpression of the neuron-specific molecule BM88 in mouse neuroblastoma cells: altered responsiveness to growth factors. J Neurosci Res 51(1):119-28 |
| abstractText | Previous studies have shown that the BM88 antigen, a novel neuron-specific molecule, promotes the differentiation of mouse neuroblastoma (Neuro 2a) cells. In particular, stably transfected, with the BM88 cDNA, Neuro 2a cells overexpressing the BM88 antigen (Neuro2a-BM88 cells) are morphologically distinct from the nontransfected Neuro 2a cells; they exhibit enhanced process outgrowth and a slower rate of division. In this study we used Neuro2a and the morphologically differentiated Neuro 2a-BM88 cells to compare their responsiveness to growth factors. The growth factors we used were nerve growth factor (NGF), basic-fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF), and glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). In addition, we used glial conditioned medium derived from either newborn mouse cerebral cortex (NBCC) or aged mouse cerebral hemispheres (MACH), as a source of normal glial factors. Because these cells express the cholinergic phenotype, we used choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity as a biochemical marker for comparison. A differential responsiveness to these factors was observed between Neuro 2a and Neuro 2a-BM88. The presence of NGF, 25 ng/ml, in the culture medium did not affect ChAT activity in either cell type. In contrast to NGF, in the presence of b-FGF, 5 ng/ml, the transfected cells, Neuro 2a-BM88, responded with a marked increase in ChAT activity. On the other hand, with GDNF, 1 ng/ml, only Neuro 2a cells showed an increase in ChAT activity. Finally, we found no response to the glial conditioned media, although these media contain several growth factors, including b-FGF. In conclusion, our findings show that overexpression of the neuron-specific antigen BM88 in neuroblastoma cells modifies their properties with respect to growth factor sensitivity, and, hence, the Neuro 2a and Neuro 2a-BM88 are suitable cell models to examine the role of growth factors in neuronal differentiation. |
