title: Neuropeptide Y gene expression in immortalized rat hippocampal and pheochromocytoma-12 cell lines.
abstract: Employing clonal cell lines derived from rat embryonic hippocampal cells, we detected neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA in three progenitor subcloned cell lines. These cell lines upon differentiation express markers indicative of commitment to either neuronal (H19-7; NF +, GFAP -), glial (H19-5; GFAP +, NF -), or bipotential (H583-5; NF +, GFAP + ) lineages. Induction of differentiation was associated with the persistence of the NPY mRNA, however, in the differentiated H19-7 cells a 20-fold increase in NPY mRNA levels was observed (P<0.05). NPY immunoreactivity was observed only in cells with a differentiated neuronal phenotype. The cellular radioimmunoassayable NPY peptide levels increased twelve-fold without a change in extracellular NPY peptide levels by multi-factorially induced neuronal or glial cell differentiation. The differentiated H19-5 cells expressed lower levels of NPY that could not be immunocytochemically detected. The peripheral sympathetic PC-12 neuronal cells examined in the undifferentiated and nerve growth factor-driven differentiated states expressed NPY only upon differentiation. We conclude that NPY is expressed by the cultured undifferentiated and differentiated rat hippocampal clonal cell lines, while the peripheral sympathetic PC-12 neuronal cell line only expresses the NPY gene upon differentiation. These immortalized embryonic neural cell line(s) will provide a hippocampal cell line(s) to conduct future in-vitro investigations targeted at determining the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing NPY gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Magee Womens Research Institute, PA 15213-3180, USA. sdevaskar@mail.magee.edu
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rajakumar
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Westfall
authors.forename: S U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Devaskar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000235:genetics*; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010673:Pheochromocytoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D012333:RNA, Messenger