title: Insulin gene expression in immortalized rat hippocampal and pheochromocytoma-12 cell lines.
abstract: Employing reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and clonal cell lines derived by retroviral transduction of the temperature sensitive simian virus 40 large T-antigen into dispersed rat embryonic hippocampal cells, we detected the ancestral gene-insulin II mRNA in three progenitor subcloned cell lines. These cell lines upon differentiation are known to express markers indicative of commitment to either neuronal (H19-7; NF + , GFAP -), glial (H19-5; GFAP +, NF -), or bipotential (H583-5, NF +, GFAP + ) lineages. No duplicated, i.e., insulin I gene expression, was observed in any of the three cell lines. Induction of differentiation was associated with the persistence of insulin II mRNA and in the cells expressing a neuronal phenotype (H19-7; NF +, GFAP -) a relative doubling in insulin II mRNA level was present (P < 0.05). Minimal cellular insulin immunoreactivity was detected only in a subpopulation of cells with a differentiated neuronal phenotype. Radioimmunoassayable insulin peptide in the H19-7 cellular conditioned medium revealed a 5-fold increase in the differentiated state. In contrast, peripheral sympathetic PC-12 neuronal cells both in the undifferentiated and nerve growth factor-driven differentiated states, failed to express both insulin I and insulin II genes. We conclude that insulin II is expressed by cultured rat hippocampal clonal cell lines, and not by the peripheral sympathetic PC-12 neuronal cell line.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, St. Louis University School of Medicine, Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rajakumar
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Eves
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Wainer
authors.forename: S U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Devaskar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D015870:Gene Expression; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000235:genetics*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D016716:PC12 Cells; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D012333:RNA, Messenger