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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Mar;1220(1):49–59. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.05904.x

Figure 3. Analysis of scheme used to identify signaling pathways to activation of key genes controlling various facets of cellular function in PC12 cells.

Figure 3

PACAP signaling through the PAC1 receptor activates Gq- and Gs-dependent signaling that results in gene activation. Protein products of induced genes are required for various cellular functions including increased cell size, growth arrest, neuritogenesis, activation of specialized genes for chemical coding of neurotransmission (TH, NPY, sodium and calcium channels, etc), and protection from cell death. By correlating the effects of specific inhibitors on the total PC12 cel transcriptome using microarray, with their effects on cellular phenotype (neuritogenesis, growth arrest, etc), linkages between signaling pathways, gene induction, and cellular function can be established, and then tested with siRNA treatment directed at candidate genes underlying function. Examples of this approach are discussed in text, and see Ravni et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 73: 1688-1708, 2008.