Pheophytin a, a low molecular weight compound found in the marine brown alga Sargassum fulvellum, promotes the differentiation of PC12 cells

• Published in: International journal of developmental neuroscience Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 63 - 68
• Main Authors: Ina, Atsutoshi, Hayashi, Ken‐Ichiro, Nozaki, Hiroshi, Kamei, Yuto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2007
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Interactions; Enzyme Activation - drug effects; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases - metabolism; Mitogen‐activated protein kinase; Nerve growth factor; Neurites - drug effects; Neurodifferentiation; PC12 Cells; Pheophytin a; Pheophytins - chemistry; Pheophytins - pharmacology; Rats; Sargassum - chemistry; Sargassum fulvellum; Signal pathway; INW, Japan
• ISSN: 0736-5748; 1873-474X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2006.09.323

We identified and characterized a neurodifferentiation compound from the marine brown alga Sargassum fulvellum collected from the Japanese coastline. Several instrumental analyses revealed the compound to be pheophytin a. Pheophytin a did not itself promote neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells. However, when PC12 cells were treated with a low concentration of pheophytin a (3.9 μg/ml) in the presence of a low level of nerve growth factor (10 ng/ml), the compound produced neurite outgrowth similar to that produced by a high level of nerve growth factor (50 ng/ml). Pheophytin a also enhanced signal transduction in the mitogen‐activated protein kinase signaling pathway, which is also induced by nerve growth factor. The effect of pheophytin a on neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells was completely blocked by U0126, a representative mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor. These results suggest that pheophytin a enhances the neurodifferentiation of PC12 cells in the presence of a low level of nerve growth factor and that this effect is mediated by activation of a mitogen‐activated protein kinase signaling pathway.