Jpn. J. Pharmacol. 84 (1), 71-74 (2000)

Serotonin Induces Apoptosis in PGT-b Pineal Gland Tumor Cells

Sung-Vin Yim¹, Kyung-Hwan Kim², Chang-Ju Kim³ and Joo-Ho Chung^4,*

¹Departmentﾊof Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Hyoja-Dong, Chuncheon, Kangwon-Do, 200-701, Korea
²InjeﾊUniversity, Sanggye-Baek Hospital, Seoul 139-707, Korea
Departments of ³Physiology and ⁴Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Kohwang Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University,
1 Hoegi-Dong, Tongdaemoon-Ku, Seoul 130-701, Korea
*ﾊTo whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract: Serotonin-induced neuronal cell death has been implicated as a possible cause of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. To investigate the involvement of serotonin-induced apoptosis as a potential mechanism in the pathophysiology of serotonin-related diseases, MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, DAPI (4｢,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining, TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling) assay and flow cytometric analysis were performed using the immortalized pineal cell line PGT-b. Through morphological and biochemical analyses, it was demonstrated that cell death induced by serotonin in PGT-b cells shows classic apoptotic features. These data suggest that serotonin induces apoptosis in PGT-b cells.

Keywords: Serotonin, Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis