REGULATION OF TYROSINE-HYDROXYLASE AND CHOLINE-ACETYLTRANSFERASE ACTIVITIES BY CELL-DENSITY IN THE PC12 RAT PHEOCHROMOCYTOMA CLONAL CELL-LINE

The specific activities of tyrosine hydroxylase and choline acetyltransferase are more than 10-fold higher in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells at high cell density (8 × 105 cells/cm2) as compared to those at low density (104 cells/cm2). Co-cultivation of cells at high and low densities or cultivation of cells at the same density but either singly or in large clumps of 50-200 cells indicates that it is a specific intercellular contact rather than release into the culture medium of a conditioning factor which is responsible for the increased activities observed. © 1979.