The present study showed that the DNA demethylating agent 5AzadC evoked robust activation of BDNF gene expression in C6 rat glioma cells and more moderate activation in Neuro2A mouse neuroblastoma cells in a transcript-specific manner: induction of exon I, III, IV, V, VIII, and IXA mRNAs was observed in C6 cells, whereas only exon I and exon III mRNA levels increased in Neuro2A cells. This evidence concerns the gene BDNF and central nervous system cancer.