Hi All,
According to ATCC, Neuro-2a is a Mus musculus brain neuroblastoma cell line.
Further search totally confused me, because this cell line previously used to study neurite outgrowth, neurotoxicity, Alzheimer's disease, asymmetric division of mammalian cell lines, neuronal differentiation, axonal growth and signaling pathways.
A convenient characteristic of these cells is their ability to differentiate into neurons within a few days
So, if this cell line is cancerous, 1) why it has been used to study diseases like Alzheimer?
2) It has been used to study neuronal differentiation and asymmetric cell devision, is it a stem cell?
3) If it isn't cancerous, then why it is reported as a neuroblastoma cell line?
4) If it is cancerous cell line, is it estrogen receptor positive (ER+)?
I really appreciate your guidance.
Dear Jalal.
Here are my 2 cents to your questions:
1. In first sight this cell line is a neuron-like one. Meaning that it can be used as a model for neurological diseases, when exposed to chemicals f.e., although one has to be cautious in interpreting obtained results and should compare them with neuronal cells. The cancerous characteristics among others seize the immortality status, meaning that the cells can be held at high passaging numbers without losing their specific characteristics.
2. According to ATCC it is a neuronal amoeboid stem cell.
4. According to Deshotels MR et al., this cell line does not express ERs (see https://www.fasebj.org/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.1175.5). Check also: http://amp.pharm.mssm.edu/Harmonizome/gene_set/neuro2a/BioGPS+Mouse+Cell+Type+and+Tissue+Gene+Expression+Profiles.
Hope this helps.
Dear Marcia Gasis,
Thanks for your time!
1. With your help and further searches, I found that N2a is a "transformed" neuroblastoma cell line (immortal cancer cell line), established by R.J. Klebe and F.H. Ruddle from a spontaneous tumor of a strain A albino mouse.
As you mentioned it is a neuron-like cell, but it is cancerous!. So, I am still confused why it has been used, for neurotoxicity evaluation, study of Alzheimer, etc.
2. According to ATCC, it is a "neuroblast cell type" with neuronal "amoeboid stem cell morphology" which is derived from "neuroblastoma tumor".
4. The links were very helpful, thanks.
From its origin, via publication in jcb in 1969,
it is a neuroblastoma cancer cell line.
Cell Line Clone Neuro-2a, derived from the spontaneous mouse C1300 neuroblastoma by Klebe and Ruddle (9), was grown in commercially treated plastic flasks in Dulbecco-Vogt modified Eagle's medium containing 8-10% gamma globulin-free newborn calf serum and antibiotics under 10% CO2 at 37°C. Cultures were passaged weekly.
http://jcb.rupress.org/content/jcb/63/1/295.full.pdf
Best wishes
Yes, it is a neuroblastoma cell line so it is a tumoral cell line
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