Effects of tobacco smoke on PC12 cell neurodifferentiation are distinct from those of nicotine or benzo[a]pyrene.

ABSTRACT: Although nicotine accounts for a great deal of the neurodevelopmental damage associated with maternal smoking or second-hand exposure, tobacco smoke contains thousands of potentially neurotoxic compounds. We used PC12 cells, a standard in vitro model of neurodifferentiation, to compare tobacco smoke extract (TSE) to nicotine, matching TSE exposure (with its inherent nicotine content) to parallel concentrations of nicotine, or to benzo[a]pyrene, a tobacco combustion product. TSE promoted the transition from cell replication to differentiation, resulting in fewer, but larger cells with greater neurite extension. TSE also biased differentiation into the dopaminergic versus the cholinergic phenotype, evidenced by an increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity but not choline acetyltransferase. N

SUBMITTER: Slotkin TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4043937 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature