Olanzapine produces trophic effects in vitro and stimulates phosphorylation of Akt/PKB, ERK1/2, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38.

Olanzapine has previously been shown to stimulate the growth of neuronal cells in culture. A major goal of the present studies was to determine if olanzapine also provided neuroprotection to pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells, SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, and primary cultures of rat cortical neurons. Olanzapine was mitogenic and enhanced the survival of PC12 cells, SH-SY5Y cells and 3T3 preadipocytes, but not L6 myoblasts or myeloma cells. It protected neuronal cells from death induced by serum and glutamine deprivation, amyloid beta peptide (25-35), and fluphenazine. Molecular mechanisms of the neuroprotection by olanzapine were explored, specifically the activation of various protein kinase signaling pathways including Akt/protein kinase B (PKB), extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK), ERK1/2, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), p38. Olanzapine treatment led to rapid phosphorylation of kinases from all three pathways in PC12 cells. Phosphorylation of Akt was blocked with selective inhibitors (wortmannin and LY294002), which implicates phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in the signaling cascade. Short-term mitogenic effects of olanzapine were abolished with a selective inhibitor of Akt, but not by inhibition of the ERK pathway. Other antipsychotic drugs stimulated phosphorylation of a subset of the kinase panel, but not all three kinases. The present findings demonstrate that olanzapine has both mitogenic and neuroprotective effects in neuronal cells.