Tl(I) and Tl(III) affect differentially PC12 cell differentiation

MAROTTE C; VERSTRAETEN SV

CABA

Congreso; III International Congress in Translational Medicine; 2016

Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires

Thallium (Tl) is a toxicmetal that promotes apoptosis in PC12 cells at high micromolar concentrations. Inthis work we evaluated the effects of sustained administration of a non-toxicconcentration of Tl(I) or Tl(III) on PC12 cell differentiation. PC12 cells wereincubated for 4 days in the presence of 20 ng/ml NGF with or without 25 mM Tl(I) or Tl(III). Preliminary results show thatTl(I) did not affect the kinetics of cell differentiation. In contrast, Tl(III)accelerated cell differentiation until 72 h, reaching control values at 96 h.Accordingly, neurite elongation was also accelerated in Tl(III)-treated samplesrespect to controls. Since NGF induces neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)expression with the subsequent generation of NO that stops cell proliferationand contributes to neurite formation, NO generation was evaluated from nitritecontent in the media. Control and Tl(I)-treated cells increased progressively nitritecontent to a similar extent. In contrast, Tl(III) induced maximal nitriterelease between 24 and 48 h of treatment. This finding may be related to the accelerationof cell differentiation in Tl(III)-treated samples and further experiments arerequired to elucidate if sub-lethal concentrations of Tl(III) may have abeneficial effect on neuronal differentiation. Supported by grants of UBA (20020130100195BA) and ANPCyT(PICT2013-1018).