Ronal characteristics and functions; thus, these retinoic acid differe…

Ronal characteristics and functions; thus, these retinoic acid differentiated BE(2)-M17 cells may serve as a better neuronal model to study neurobiology and/or neurotoxicity. Keywords: Neurons, M17, Neurotoxicity, Cell maturation, Differentiation, Retinoic acid, Neuroexocytosis, Voltage-gated calcium channelsBackground Neurotoxic chemicals, such as lead (Pb) and organophosphorus (OP) insecticides are prevalent in the environment. The use of different in vitro cell culture assays for predicting the in vivo effects of these chemicals have been extensively reviewed in recent years and the issues pertaining to their use have also been discussed [1-5]. The in vitro systems have been developed and utilized not only to understand the mechanisms of toxicity at the* Correspondence: radharaman.ray@us.army.mil Equal contributors Research Division, US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, 3100 Ricketts Point Road, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21010-5400, USAmolecular and cellular levels but also to screen potential neurotoxicants. Potentially toxic compounds would be candidates for in vivo testing. The objective of neurotoxicologic studies on cells and tissues in vitro is to characterize the cellular and molecular substrates and pathways PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25751659 that contribute to impaired behavior, altered function, or pathological changes in the whole animal following exposure to a toxicant [1]. The two main types of cell culture systems used for in vitro neurological testing are (a) primary neuronal cell cultures dissociated from peripheral or central nervous system tissues and (b) clonal cell lines derived from tumors of neurological origin [2].?2013 Andres et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Andres et al. BMC Neuroscience 2013, 14:49 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/14/Page 2 ofPrimary neuronal cultures retain morphological, neurochemical, and electrophysiological properties of neurons in situ [2]. However, long-term culturing of primary neurons has been a major challenge. This creates difficulties in addressing the fundamental Nelfinavir (Mesylate) questions concerning cellular and molecular interactions among the many functionally distinct neuronal cell types that contribute to the development and functioning of the mammalian central nervous system [6]. Neuroblastoma cell lines have been used extensively as in vitro models for studies on neuronal development, neurological diseases and disorders as well as mechanisms of actions and neurotoxicity of compounds affecting the nervous system [2,7,8]. These in vitro models can provide a wellcontrolled system in which to study many of the critical cellular processes of neuronal development including proliferation, differentiation, growth, and synaptogenesis. Furthermore, cultured cell lines allow subtle changes in cell number, morphology, and functions to be readily detected compared to in vivo approaches and provide reproducibility in test results as well as providing a reduction in time, cost, and animal use [2,7]. Neuroblastoma cells can be differentiated by treatment with chemical agents into distinct morphologic cell types. These differentiated cells may be of different types: (a) substrate-adherent (S), which resemble non-neuronal precursor cell.