RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Immortalized Human Dorsal Root Ganglion Cells Differentiate into Neurons with Nociceptive Properties
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 5420
OP 5428
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-13-05420.1999
VO 19
IS 13
A1 Heather K. Raymon
A1 Silke Thode
A1 Jiuying Zhou
A1 Glenn C. Friedman
A1 Jose R. Pardinas
A1 Christian Barrere
A1 Randolph M. Johnson
A1 Dinah W. Y. Sah
YR 1999
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/19/13/5420.abstract
AB A renewable source of human sensory neurons would greatly facilitate basic research and drug development. We had established previously conditionally immortalized human CNS cell lines that can differentiate into functional neurons (Sah et al., 1997). We report here the development of an immortalized human dorsal root ganglion (DRG) clonal cell line, HD10.6, with a tetracycline-regulatable v-myc oncogene. In the proliferative condition, HD10.6 cells have a doubling time of 1.2 d and exhibit a neuronal precursor morphology. After differentiation of clone HD10.6 for 7 d in the presence of tetracycline, v-myc expression was suppressed, and >50% of the cells exhibited typical neuronal morphology, stained positively for neuronal cytoskeletal markers, and fired action potentials in response to current injection. Furthermore, this cell line was fate-restricted to a neuronal phenotype; even in culture conditions that promote Schwann cell or smooth muscle differentiation of neural crest stem cells, HD10.6 differentiated exclusively into neurons. Moreover, differentiated HD10.6 cells expressed sensory neuron-associated transcription factors and exhibited capsaicin sensitivity. Taken together, these data indicate that we have established an immortalized human DRG cell line that can differentiate into sensory neurons with nociceptive properties. The cell line HD10.6 represents the first example of a human sensory neuronal line and will be valuable for basic research, as well as for the discovery of novel drug targets and clinical candidates.