Enhanced survival and differentiation in vitro of different neuronal populations by some interleukins

Abstract

Data from the literature demonstrate the existence of a growing family of neuropoietic cytokines; members of this group have structural motifs in common with other members and with neurotrophic factors. In this research we studied the responses elicited in vitro by some of these molecules in two different neuronal populations: murine neuroblastoma N18TG2 and neurons from chicken dorsal root ganglia. Both IL-2 and IL-6 improve the survival of murine neuroblastoma cells in clonal density plating experiments; in addition IL-2 significantly inhibits thymidine incorporation by single cell suspension. The survival of sensory neurons, on the other hand, non-responsive to IL-2 and IL-6, was significantly supported by IL-3, which also stimulates their morphological differentiation, inducing the formation of a well-developed neural net. In conclusion, results reported here confirm the neurotrophic activity of some ILs and provide additional neuronal models for future investigations.

Neurotrophic Action of Interleukin 3 and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor on Murine Sympathetic Neurons

“…That 10-50 U/ml IL-3 is neuritogenetic as well as able to enhance neuronal survival has been previously reported for dissociated sensory neurons prepared from day 8 chick embryos [10]. We found that while neither IL-3 nor GM-CSF enhanced the survival of undifferentiated SCG neurons (fig.…”

“…Both NGF and IL-1ß were found to be involved in this neuritogenesis, while the enhanced response when nematode-infected MLN were used appeared to be due to IL-3, IL-6 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Although IL-3 and GM-CSF have been reported to exert trophic effects on central cholinergic neurons [8,9] and sensory neurons [10], this was the first time they were shown to also promote sympathetic nerve growth.…”

CNS inflammation and neurodegeneration

“…It exerts both trophic (128) and toxic effects on neurons (129,130). Systemic overexpression of IL-3 in the CNS of mice results in severe neurological dysfunction characterized by degenerated, vacuolated neurons (131), predominantly motor neurons of the spinal cord, with an increase in inflammatory infiltrates surrounding neurons in the absence of demyelination.…”

HIV Dementia and the Basal Ganglia

“…In vitro studies have shown that IL-6 may have multi-faceted effects on neurons ranging from vacuoliza tion (at 1 ng/ml) [90. 91] to enhanced survival (at 100 U/ ml) [91]. TNF-a has a wide variety of effects on the brain cells: it is toxic to oligodendrocytes and to neurons at high concentrations [92][93][94], and it can induce HIV-1 expres sion in chronically infected cells [95].…”