title: Pheophytin a, a low molecular weight compound found in the marine brown alga Sargassum fulvellum, promotes the differentiation of PC12 cells.
abstract: We identified and characterized a neurodifferentiation compound from the marine brown alga Sargassum fulvellum collected from the Japanese coastline. Several instrumental analyses revealed the compound to be pheophytin a. Pheophytin a did not itself promote neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells. However, when PC12 cells were treated with a low concentration of pheophytin a (3.9 microg/ml) in the presence of a low level of nerve growth factor (10 ng/ml), the compound produced neurite outgrowth similar to that produced by a high level of nerve growth factor (50 ng/ml). Pheophytin a also enhanced signal transduction in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, which is also induced by nerve growth factor. The effect of pheophytin a on neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells was completely blocked by U0126, a representative mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor. These results suggest that pheophytin a enhances the neurodifferentiation of PC12 cells in the presence of a low level of nerve growth factor and that this effect is mediated by activation of a mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Coastal Bioenvironment Center, Saga University, 152-1 Shonan-cho, Karatsu, Saga 847-0021, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsutoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ina
authors.forename: Ken-Ichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: Yuto
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010674:Pheophytins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D044647:Sargassum / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D010674:Pheophytins; C061694:pheophytin a; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases