J Korean Geriatr Soc.  2005 Dec;9(4):301-305.

An Effect of Testesterone on the Proliferation of Artificially Induced Senescent PC12 Pheochromocytoma Cells

• Lee E
• Oh CS
• Shin DH
• Lee YS

Abstract

BACKGROUND
S: Although the role of testosterone in the neuroprotection is still poorly known, accumulating evidence suggests that testosterone may be an important role in neurodegenerative disease including dementia. So we would like to investigate the effect of testosterone on the proliferation of senescent PC12 cells, using as a model of neural cell aging.
METHODS
Rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells from the ATCC were induced senescence artificially by AZT, the telomerase inhibitor, After 4 weeks of culture with AZT, PC 12 cells treated with testosterone overnight. The proliferating capacity of PC12 cells was determined by a difference in subcellular distribution of Ki67 expression, using as intranuclear marker for cell proliferation, and then we counted the numbers of proliferating cells which showed Ki67 IRs within nuclei to be compared with the total cell numbers.
RESULTS
We observed Ki67 IRs in nucleus of the senescent PC12 cells with testosterone treated group and control group. In the quantitative assessment of nuclear Ki67 IR proliferating cells against total cells, the senescent cells treated with testosterone showed marked enhancement of proliferation.
CONCLUSION
Testosterone seems to be a protective effect in the cellular senescence in PC 12 cells by maintaining the proliferating capabilities.

Keyword

testosterone; PC12 cell; senescence; AZT

MeSH Terms

Aging
Animals
Cell Aging
Cell Count
Cell Proliferation
Dementia
Neurodegenerative Diseases
PC12 Cells
Pheochromocytoma*
Rats
Telomerase
Testosterone
Telomerase
Testosterone