Antioxidant N ‐Acetylcysteine Blocks Nerve Growth Factor‐Induced H 2 O 2 /ERK Signaling in PC12 Cells

A bstract : We investigated whether H 2 O 2 , superoxide, and ERK participate in nerve growth factor (NGF)‐induced signaling cascades and whether antioxidant N ‐acetylcysteine (NAC) regulates these NGF‐induced responses. PC12 cells were cultured in medium containing NGF or vehicle with or without NAC pretreatment, and the intracellular H 2 O 2 and superoxide levels and the amount of phosphorylated ERK were evaluated by flow cytometry and Western blotting, respectively. We found that NGF increased intracellular H 2 O 2 concentration and activated ERK but failed to affect intracellular superoxide level. Moreover, NAC counteracted these NGF‐induced responses. These findings demonstrate that NAC blocks the NGF‐induced H 2 O 2 /ERK signaling in PC12 cells.