Tl(I) AND Tl(III) AFFECT DIFFERENTIALLY PC12 CELL DIFFERENTIATION

MAROTTE C; VERSTRAETEN SV

Córdoba

Congreso; LII Reunion Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Bioquimica y Biología Molecular; 2016

Sociedad Argentina de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

Thallium (Tl) is a toxic metal that promotes apoptosis in PC12 cells at high micromolar concentrations. In this work we evaluated the effects of sustained administration of a non-toxic concentration of Tl(I) or Tl(III) on PC12 cell differentiation. PC12 cells were incubated for 4 days in the presence of 20 ng/ml NGF with or without 25 μM Tl(I) or Tl(III). Preliminary results show that Tl(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 samples respect to controls. Since NGF induces neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) expression with the subsequent generation of NO that stops cell proliferation and contributes to neurite formation, NO generation was evaluated from nitrite content in the media. Control and Tl(I)-treated cells increased progressively nitrite content to a similar extent. In contrast, Tl(III) induced maximal nitrite release between 24 and 48 h of treatment. This finding may be related to the acceleration of cell differentiation in Tl(III)-treated samples and further experiments are required to elucidate if sub-lethal concentrations of Tl(III) may have a beneficial effect on neuronal differentiation.