Characterization of inhibition by chronic treatment with lithium ion on nerve growth factor-induced neuronal differentiation of rat PC12 pheochromocytoma cells.

To understand the mechanism underlying the neurotoxicity of lithium ion, we investigated the inhibition of the nerve growth factor-induced neuronal differentiation of rat PC12 pheochromocytoma cells induced by treatment with LiCl. Incubation with 0.1-3 mM LiCl from 30 min before nerve growth factor (NGF) treatment attenuated neurite outgrowth. Moreover, incubation with 3 mM LiCl from 24 h before strongly reduced the neurite out-growth. The chronic pretreatment inhibited the NGF-caused induction of acetyl-cholinesterase activity known to be elevated by NGF in transcription-dependent processes, and inhibited expression of c-fos proto-oncogene mRNA. This pretreatment also inhibited the NGF-induced formation of inositol phosphates, accompanied by the significant accumulation of inositol monophosphate. These observations, that chronic treatment with LiCl inhibits the NGF-induced neuronal differentiation in a transcription-dependent manner and inhibits phosphoinositide metabolism, suggest a possible causal relationship between these two events.