Dexamethasone induces increased catecholamine biosynthesis in cultured neuroblastoma.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Sandquist.
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Hyperbilirubinemia is a recognized etiologic factor in motor and hearing disorders associated with cerebral palsy. Its role in more subtle forms of neurological impairment is more controversial. Using a mutant animal model, which develops symptoms and signs closely resembling the human kernicterus syndrome, neurons of hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cochlear nuclei, losuc ceruleus, and olfactory bulb were examined by electron microscopy. Pathological changes, observed in all areas studied, consisted of mitochondrial and endoplasmic enlargement and vacuolation, with glycogen deposition; increased extracellular space; myelin figures; and degenerating changes in nerve terminals. If we make the assumption that pathologic changes in the human infant with neonatal jaundice are similar to changes in the animal model, then the widespread involvement of CNS neurons in all cortical areas examined may well help to explain the syndromes of minimal cerebral dysfunction reported in clinical studies.
The question of age as a possible factor influencing the regenerative response of catecholaminergic varicosities in the hypothalamus was investigated in the supraoptic commissure and the paraventricular, periventricular, and dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei of rats that had received intraventricular injections of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine when they were (1) neonates, (2) young adults, or (3) senescent adults. After post-neurotoxin survival for 4, 21, 56, or 180 days, the animals were perfused, and the hypothalamic tissue sections were cut and processed using a glyoxylic acid method for localizing catecholamines. Four days following neurotoxin administration, counts of fluorescent varicosities showed a significant loss of catecholamine varicosities in each of the four areas. Subsequently, at least partial restoration of numbers of catecholamine varicosities occurred in all hypothalamic areas in all three age groups. It is concluded that, following selective lesions induced by the neurotoxin 6-OH-DA, catecholamine varicosities were restored both in immature and mature groups. According to the evidence obtained experimentally, the rate of restoration was greater in the neonate group, whereas the percentage restoration attained varies according to the hypothalamic area studied and the age of the animal.
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Monolayer of murine neuroblastoma were treated with dexamethasone and examined by electronmicroscopy. Most of the treated cells were morphologically differentiated and exhibited type C virus particles which were budding from the cell surface. This in vitro system may be of great value for exploring the oncogenic potential of the virus, and its possible role in cell differentiation.
Dexamethasone induces morphological differentiation in murine neuroblastoma cells in culture. The percentage of differentiated cells depends on the concentration of dexamethasone in the medium and duration of treatment. After drug removal (with or without replating), many cells maintain their differentiated phenotype. Dexamethasone-treated cells have larger soma and contain more protein. Dexamethasone also produces a concentration-dependent inhibition of population growth. Growth inhibition is complete by 2 days following treatment with dexamethasone 50 micrograms/ml. Complete growth inhibition is achieved prior to the complete expression of morphological differentiation. Androstenedione, testosterone, and 17-beta-estradiol--all steroids without glucocorticoid activity--have no differentiating effect, although they inhibit growth or cause cell death at higher concentrations.