Differentiation of TERA-2 human embryonal carcinoma cells into neurons and HCMV permissive cells: Induction by agents other than retinoic acid

Peter W. Andrews, Eva Gönczöl, Stanley A. Plotkin, Michael Dignazio, J. Wolter Oosterhuis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

65 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Retinoic acid induces the differentiation of NTERA-2 cl. D1 human embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells into neurons, cells permissive for the replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and other cell types that cannot as yet be classified but are distinguishable from the stem cells. We tested several additional agents for their ability to induce the differentiation of these EC cells. No differentiation was induced by butyrate, cyclic AMP, cytosine arabinoside, the tumor promoter 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA), or the chemotherapeutic agent cis-diaminedichloroplatinum, although morphological changes were detected at the highest concentrations of these agents that permitted cell survival. However, retinal, retinol, 5-bromouracil 2′deoxyribose (BUdR), 5-iodouracil 2′deoxyribose (IUdR), hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA), dimethylacetamide (DMA), and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) all induced some neuronal differentiation, but to a lesser extent than retinoic acid. Also, BUdR, IUdR, HMBA, and DMA induced the appearance of many cells permissive for the replication of HCMV. Differentiation was, in all cases, accompanied by the loss of SSEA-3, a globoseries glycolipid antigen characteristically expressed by human EC cells. However, another glycolipid antigen, A2B5, which appears in 60%–80% of differentiated cells 7 days following retinoic acid induction, was detected in less than 20% of the cells induced by the other agents studied. This implies that the HCMV-permissive cells induced by retinoic acid are not identical to those induced by BUdR, IUdR, and DMA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)119-126
Number of pages8
JournalDifferentiation
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1986
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Differentiation of TERA-2 human embryonal carcinoma cells into neurons and HCMV permissive cells: Induction by agents other than retinoic acid'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this