A time-resolved RNA-sequencing dataset of transcriptional responses in PC12 cells to NGF withdrawal and replenishment.

Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) is a pleotropic extracellular signalling peptide with neurotrophic, cell differentiation, and cell survival functions. Binding of NGF ligand to tyrosine kinase receptors stimulates intracellular cascades to impact gene transcription. Transcriptional responses coordinate neurodevelopment, and regulate the sensitivity and excitability of populations of adult neurons. NGF is synthesized during inflammation, inducing plasticity of sensory neurons and contributing to chronic pain. PC12 cells, derived from rat pheochromocytoma, are a classical model of NGF responses, that differentiate upon NGF treatment into neuron-like cells, with neurites and growth cones dependent on continued exposure to NGF. This dataset comprises a time series from NGF-differentiated PC12 cells subject to NGF withdrawal and subsequent replenishment. These data serve as a resource for the community to elucidate NGF-dependent time-resolved gene transcription in peripheral neuron-like cells. RNA was extracted, sequenced, and mapped to the rat genome. QC measures and analysis of time-dependent gene expression changes validated by analysis of known marker genes show that this sequencing data is robust and contains thousands of transcriptional events for future study. These data are available in the sequence read archive (SRA) and serve as a valuable resource for the study of NGF-dependent transcription.