Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Visible light regulates neurite outgrowth of nerve cells

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Cytotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells on collagen-coated glass plates under light emitting diode (LED) irradiation at several wavelengths (i.e., 455, 470, 525, 600, 630, 880 and 945 nm) was investigated. No neurite outgrowth was observed during cultivation under irradiation from the lamp of an inverted light microscope through filters (yielding mixed light at ca. 525 nm and more than 800 nm), whereas neurite outgrowth was observed during cultivation in the dark. When these cells were irradiated with monochromatic LED light, neurite outgrowth was slightly, but not completely, suppressed at 455, 525, 600, 630, 880 and 945 nm, as was observed in the case of mixed light. Long connected neuronal outgrowths (e.g., 3 mm length) were observed with LED light at 470 nm and 1.8 mW/cm2 intensity. No such outgrowths were observed at other LED light wavelengths (i.e., 455, 525, 600, 630, 880 and 945 nm). Irradiation at 470 nm may have caused specific responses to transductional signals in these cells that led to the connection of neuronal outgrowths between cells. Not only suppressed neurite outgrowth but also long connected neurite outgrowths were observed when PC12 cells were cultured under several different wavelengths of light.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

LED:

Light emitting diode

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

NGF:

Nerve growth factor

References

  • Aggarwal BB, Quintanilha AT, Cammack R, Packer L (1978) Damage to mitochondrial electron transport and energy coupling by visible light. Biochim Biophys Acta 502:367–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bakalova R, Ohba H, Zhelev Z, Ishikawa M, Baba Y (2004) Quantum dots as photosensitizers? Nature Biotechnol 22:1360–1361

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen A, Du L, Xu Y, Chen L, Wu Y (2005) The effect of blue light exposure on the expression of circadian genes: bmal1 and cryptochrome 1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of jaundiced neonates. Pediatr Res 58:1180–1184

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Christie JM, Reymond P, Powell GK, Bernasconi P, Raibekas AA, Liscum E, Briggs WR (1998) Arabidopsis NPH1: a flavoprotein with the properties of a photoreceptor for phototropism. Science 282:1698–1701

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corey JM, Wheeler BC, Brewer GJ (1991) Compliance of hippocampal neurons to patterned substrate networks. J Neurosci Res 30:300–307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Damon DH, D’Amore PA, Wagner JA (1990) Nerve growth factor and fibroblast growth factor regulate neurite outgrowth and gene expression in PC12 cells via both protein kinase C- and cAMP-independent mechanisms. J Cell Biol 110:1333–1339

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards JA, Cline HT (1999) Light-induced calcium influx into retinal axons is regulated by presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptor activity in vivo. J Neurophysiol 81:895–907

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlicher A, Betz T, Stuhrmann B, Koch D, Milner V, Raizen MG, Kas J (2002) Guiding neuronal growth with light. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:16024–16028

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Assal SE, Alonso-Blanco C, Peeters AJ, Raz V, Koornneef M (2001) A QTL for flowering time in Arabidopsis reveals a novel allele of CRY2. Nat Genet 29:435–440

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gorgidze LA, Oshemkova SA, Vorobjev IA (1998) Blue light inhibits mitosis in tissue culture cells. Biosci Rep 18:215–224

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hammarback JA, Palm SL, Furcht LT, Letourneau PC (1985) Guidance of neurite outgrowth by pathways of substratum-adsorbed laminin. J Neurosci Res 13:213–220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hara M, Asakura T, Cho CS, Akaike T, Higuchi A (2000) Morphologies of PC12 Cells cultured on some polymeric films—relationship between cell growth and surface physical properties. Nippon Kagaku Kaishi 4:257–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harada A, Sakai T, Okada K (2003) Phot1 and phot2 mediate blue light-induced transient increases in cytosolic Ca2+ differently in Arabidopsis leaves. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:8583–8588

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Higuchi A, Takanashi Y, Ohno T, Asakura T, Cho CS, Akaike T, Hara M (2002) Production of interferon-β by fibroblast cells on the membranes prepared by extracellular matrix proteins. Cytotechnology 39:131–137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Higuchi A, Kitamura H, Shishimine K, Konishi S, Yoon BO, Hara M (2003) Visible light is able to guide neuronal networks in a micro-patterned manner. J Biomat Sci Polym Edn 14:1377–1388

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Higuchi A, Watanabe T, Matsubara Y, Matsuoka Y, Hayashi S (2005) Regulation of neurite outgrowth by intermittent irradiation of visible light. J Phys Chem B 109:11033–11036

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hogset A, Ovstebo EB, Prasmickaite L, Berg K, Fodstad O, Maelandsmo GM (2002) Light-induced adenovirus gene transfer, an efficient and specific gene delivery technology for cancer gene therapy. Cancer Gene Ther 9:365–371

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kagawa T, Sakai T, Suetsugu N, Oikawa K, Ishiguro S, Kato T, Tabata S, Okada K, Wada M (2001) Arabidopsis NPL1: a phototropin homolog controlling the chloroplast high-light avoidance response. Science 291:2138–2141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kam L, Shain W, Turner JN, Bizios R (2001) Axonal outgrowth of hippocampal neurons on micro-scale networks of polylysine-conjugated laminin. Biomaterials 22:1049–1054

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khadra M, Lyngstadaas SP, Haanaes HR, Mustafa K (2005) Effect of laser therapy on attachment, proliferation and differentiation of human osteoblast-like cells cultured on titanium implant material. Biomaterials 26:3503–3509

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnamoorthy RR, Crawford MJ, Chaturvedi MM, Jain SK, Aggarwal BB, Al-Ubaidi MR, Agarwal NJ (1999) Photo-oxidative stress down-modulates the activity of nuclear factor-kappaB via involvement of caspase-1, leading to apoptosis of photoreceptor cells. J Biol Chem 274:3734–3743

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Legrand-Poels S, Schoonbroodt S, Matroule JY, Piette J (1998) Nf-kappa B: an important transcription factor in photobiology. J Photochem Photobiol B 45:1–8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis JB, Wataha JC, Messer RLW, Caughman GB, Yamamoto T, Hsu SD (2005) Blue light differentially alters cellular redox properties. J Biomed Mater Res Part B Appl Biomater 72B:223–229

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mas P, Devlin PF, Panda S, Kay SA (2000) Functional interaction of phytochrome B and cryptochrome 2. Nature 408:207–211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McFarland CD, Thomas CH, DeFilippis C, Steele JG, Healy KE (2000) Protein adsorption and cell attachment to patterned surfaces. J Biomed Mater Res 49:200–210

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miyamoto S, Ohashi A, Kimura J, Tobe S, Akaike T (1993) A novel approach for toxicity sensing using hepatocytes on a collagen-patterned plate. Sens Actuators B 13:196–199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oberdoerster J, Rabin RA (1999) NGF-differentiated and undifferentiated PC12 cells vary in induction of apoptosis by ethanol. Life Sci 64:267–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donovan P, Perrett CM, Zhang X, Montaner B, Xu YZ, Harwood CA, McGregor JM, Walker SL, Hanaoka F, Karran P (2005) Azathioprine and UVA light generate mutagenic oxidative DNA damage. Science 309:1871–1874

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pflaum M, Kielbassa C, Garmyn M, Epe B (1998) Oxidative DNA damage induced by visible light in mammalian cells: extent, inhibition by antioxidants and genotoxic effects. Mutat Res 408:137–146

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prasmickaite L, Hogset A, Olsen VM, Kaalhus O, Mikalsen SO, Berg K (2004) Photochemically enhanced gene transfection increases the cytotoxicity of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene combined with ganciclovir. Cancer Gene Ther 11:514–523

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sakurai H, Yasui H, Yamada Y, Nishimura H, Shigemoto M (2005) Detection of reactive oxygen species in the skin of live mice and rats exposed to UVA light: a research review on chemiluminescence and trials for UVA protection. Photochem Photobiol Sci 4:715–720

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samia AC, Chen X, Burda C (2003) Semiconductor quantum dots for photodynamic therapy. J Am Chem Soc 125:15736–15737

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singhvi R, Kumar A, Lopez GP, Stephanopoulos GN, Wang DI, Whitesides GM, Ingber DE (1994) Engineering cell shape and function. Science 264:696–698

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported from a Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 14655136 and 17560691) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. This work was also supported by “High-Tech Research Center” Project from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. Asahi Glass Foundation, Iketani Science Technology Foundation, Salt Science Foundation, and National Science Council of Taiwan under the Grant No. NSC95-2221-E-008-086 and NSC96-2218-E-008-007 were also acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, No. 300, Jhongda Rd., Jhongli, Taoyuan, 32001, Taiwan

    Akon Higuchi & Wen-Yih Chen

  2. Department of Materials and Life Science, Seikei University, 3-3-1, Kichijoji Kitamachi, Musashino, Tokyo, 180-8633, Japan

    Akon Higuchi, Toru Watanabe, Yusuke Noguchi & Yuki Matsuoka

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, 200, Chung-Bei Rd., Chungli, Taoyuan, 32023, Taiwan

    Yung Chang

Authors
  1. Akon Higuchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Toru Watanabe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yusuke Noguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yung Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wen-Yih Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yuki Matsuoka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akon Higuchi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Higuchi, A., Watanabe, T., Noguchi, Y. et al. Visible light regulates neurite outgrowth of nerve cells. Cytotechnology 54, 181–188 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-007-9087-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-007-9087-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation