Staurosporine-induced neurite outgrowth in PC12h cells.

Treatment of PC12h cells with staurosporine (100 nM), a potent inhibitor of protein kinases, promoted rapid outgrowth of neurites. The mechanism of neurite formation elicited by staurosporine is different from that elicited by nerve growth factor or by dibutyryl cyclic AMP, based on the independence from transcription or from activation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, respectively. Comparative experiments showed that of these three neurite-promoting agents, staurosporine was the most effective in eliciting neurite initiation.