Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the neurotrophic effects of plasmenylethonoamine (pPE) and plasmanylcholine (aPC) from Cucumaria frondosa on the nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced differentiation of pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. We extracted and purified pPE and aPC by column chromatography and their purity were determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The effects of pPE and aPC on the survival and differentiation of PC12 cells were analyzed by morphological examination, and changes in the length and number of neurites were statistically analyzed. Furthermore, the expression of synaptophysin and growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) in differentiating PC12 cells were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunofluorescence to evaluate the effects of pPE and aPC on the growth and differentiation of synapses in PC12 cells. Results showed that the purities of pPE and aPC were 91.0% and 89.1%, respectively, and both phospholipids, with different structures, could significantly improve the differentiation of PC12 cells (P < 0.05） and promote the growth of neurites by promoting the expression of synaptophysin and GAP-43. The effect of pPE was better than that of aPC. In conclusion, pPE and aPC could significantly promote the differentiation and synaptic growth of PC12 cells in a concentration-dependent and structure-specific manner, but the exact underlying mechanism still needs further study.

Key words: Cucumaria frondosa; plasmenylethonoamine; plasmanylcholine; pheochromocytoma cells; neurodifferentiation