title: Substrate-induced PC12 cell differentiation without filopodial, lamellipodial activity or NGF stimulationa.
abstract: Nanoscale gradients in energy of adhesion are physical cues from the extracellular environment that can significantly affect cell functions and enhance the neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells. How such surface effects can trigger differentiation and initiate neurite outgrowth, remains to be elucidated. Here we used surface modification, atomic force microscopy and immunofluorescence to analyze PC12 cells. We studied the kinetics of neurites growth under cytochalasin-B treatment, known as an inhibitor of actin polymerization. We found that neither filopodia nor lamellipodia are involved in detecting the surface effects that induce the differentiation of PC12 cells. This finding suggests that the solution to this problem lies beyond identifying a precise cytoskeleton-associated cell-substrate intermediate. Thus, a more comprehensive model is probably required to identify the mechanism by which cell-substrate interactions are eventually translated into a differentiation signal.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Descartes, Faculté des Sciences Fondamentales et Biomédicales, 45 Rue des Saints-Pères, 75006, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lamour
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Souès
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamraoui
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D003571:Cytochalasin B / Q000494:pharmacology; D005898:Glass; D007700:Kinetics; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D016716:PC12 Cells; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D003571:Cytochalasin B; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor
keywords: Actin polymerization; Cytochalasin-B; Filopodia; Neurite outgrowth; PC12 cells