Involvement of GPR12 in the induction of neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells

GPR12, an orphan G protein-coupled receptor, constitutively activates the Gs signaling pathway and further increases intracellular cyclic AMP. GPR12 overexpression has been reported to promote neurite extension in neurons or transform neuro2a neuroblastoma cells into neuron-like cells. However, the possible effects and mechanisms of GPR12 in the differentiation of PC12 cells are still unknown. The present study shows that GPR12 overexpression induced PC12 cells differentiation into neuron-like cells with enlarged cell sizes and neuritogenesis possibly via activation of Erk1/2 signaling and significantly increased the expression of several neurite outgrowth-related genes, including Bcl-xL, Bcl-2 and synaptophysin. These findings indicate that GPR12 may play a role in neurite outgrowth during PC12 cell differentiation.