Nerve growth factor induces changes in (2′–5′)oligo(A) synthetase and 2′-phosphodiesterase activities during differentiation of PC12 pheochromocytoma cells

Abstract Treatment of rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12 with Vipera lebetina (snake) nerve growth factor (NGF) induces a rapid increase (from 5 to 25-fold) in the level of (2′–5′)oligo(A) synthetase activity and a simultaneous decrease (from 2 to 5-fold) in the activity of 2′–5′A degrading enzymes—2′-phosphodiesterases (2′-PDE). These changes in the enzyme activities led to the significant increase in the intracellular concentration of 2′–5′A. We have found that the serum starvation of PC12 cells causes a 1.5 to 2.0-fold increase in the level of 2′–5′A-synthetase activity, but the ativities of 2′-PDE and the intracellular concentration of 2′–5′A remain unaltered. These results show that NGF modulates the activity of (2′–5′)oligo(A) enzymes and intracellular concentration of 2′–5′A during the neural differentiation of PC12 cells.