Effect of nerve growth factor on the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins in PC12 cells: dissection of the neurotrophic response from the anti-mitogenic response.

PC12 cells treated with nerve growth factor (NGF) undergo a G1 block and differentiate. Expression of selected cell cycle regulatory proteins was studied under culture conditions which permit observation of a differentiation response independently from a mitogenic or anti-mitogenic response. The expression of all cell cycle regulatory proteins studied is modulated by NGF addition to exponentially-growing cultures in the presence of serum. While levels of most of these proteins decrease, accumulation of cyclin D1 and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 Cip1/WAF1 is observed. Cyclin D1 associated kinase activity is inhibited, correlating with an increase in p21 protein. PC12 cells, synchronized by serum starvation, undergo morphological and functional differentiation in the presence of NGF. Neither cyclin D1 nor p21 are present in such cultures, nor is their expression upregulated by NGF, indicating that they are not required for this process. Removal of serum from differentiated PC12 cells results in loss of these proteins, but has no effect on differentiation or the nonproliferative state in presence of NGF. Together, the results indicate that cyclin D1 and p21 are not necessary for differentiation per se, nor are they required for maintenance of the differentiated state in the absence of serum.