Drugs of Abuse Induce Apoptotic Features in PC12 Cells

: Drugs of abuse induce the release of dopamine in the central nervous system, particularly in the mesolimbic‐mesocortical pathway. As dopamine may act as a neurotoxin, in this study, we analyzed the effects of the drugs of abuse, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine, on the neurodegeneration of PC12 ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 1010; no. 1; pp. 667 - 670
Main Authors:	OLIVEIRA, M T., REGO, A C., MACEDO, TR A., OLIVEIRA, C R.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-12-2003
Subjects:	amphetamine Amphetamine - pharmacology Animals apoptosis Apoptosis - drug effects Caspase 3 Caspases - metabolism Cell Differentiation - drug effects cocaine Cocaine - pharmacology Cytochromes c - metabolism dopamine heroin Heroin - pharmacology mitochondria Mitochondria - drug effects Mitochondria - metabolism PC12 Cells Rats Substance-Related Disorders
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Summary:	: Drugs of abuse induce the release of dopamine in the central nervous system, particularly in the mesolimbic‐mesocortical pathway. As dopamine may act as a neurotoxin, in this study, we analyzed the effects of the drugs of abuse, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine, on the neurodegeneration of PC12 cells, a dopaminergic cell line, by evaluating the activity of caspase‐3 and mitochondrial cytochrome c release. All the drugs were shown to induce caspase‐3 activation, similarly to staurosporine, a classical inducer of apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, like staurosporine, the drugs of abuse induced a decrease in mitochondrial cytochrome c content, suggesting the involvement of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.
Bibliography:	istex:302CAD5D53725B5E5358FF72A81DF74C4082054B ArticleID:NYAS667 ark:/67375/WNG-26VPRNMJ-D
ISSN:	0077-8923 1749-6632
DOI:	10.1196/annals.1299.121