Membrane vesicles shed by oligodendroglioma cells induce neuronal apoptosis.

In order to investigate the mechanism by which oligodendrogliomas cause neuronal damage, media conditioned by G26/24 oligodendroglioma cells, were fractionated into shed vesicles and vesicle-free supernatants, and added to primary cultures of rat fetal cortical neurons. After one night treatment with vesicles, a reproducible, dose-dependent, inhibitory effect on neurite outgrowth was already induced and, after 48-72 h of incubation, neuronal apoptosis was evident. Vesicle-free supernatants and vesicles shed by NIH-3T3 cells had no inhibitory effects on neurons. Western blot analyses showed that treated neurons expressed a decreased amount of neurofilament (NF), growth-associated protein (GA…