Tissue transglutaminase mediates activation of RhoA and MAP kinase pathways during retinoic acid-induced neuronal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells

All-trans-retinoic acid (RA) plays a crucial role in survival and differentiation of neurons. For elucidating signaling mechanisms involved in RA-induced neuronal differentiation, we have selected SH-SY5Y cells, which are an established in vitro cell model for studying RA signaling. Here we report that RA-induced neuronal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells is coupled with increased expression/activation of TGase and in vivo transamidation and activation of RhoA. In addition, RA promotes formation of stress fibers and focal adhesion complexes, and activation of ERK1/2, JNK1, and p38alpha/beta/gamma MAP kinases. Using C-3 exoenzyme (RhoA inhibitor) or monodansylcadaverine (TGase inhibitor), we show that transamidated RhoA regulates cytoskeletal rearrangement and activation of ERK1/2 and p38gamma MAP kinases. Further, by using stable SH-SY5Y cell lines (overexpressing wild-type, C277S mutant, and antisense TGase), we demonstrate that transglutaminase activity is required for activation of RhoA, ERK1/2, JNK1, and p38gamma MAP kinases. Activated MAP kinases differentially regulate RA-induced neurite outgrowth and neuronal marker expression. The results of our studies suggest a novel mechanism of RA signaling, which involves activation of TGase and transamidation of RhoA. RA-induced activation of TGase is proposed to induce multiple signaling pathways that regulate neuronal differentiation.     

Activation of Rac1 by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in vivo: role in activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways and retinoic acid-induced neuronal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells

Rho GTPases such as RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42 are crucial players in the regulation of signal transduction pathways required for neuronal differentiation. Using an in vitro cell culture model of neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, we demonstrated previously that RhoA is an in vivo substrate of tissue transglutaminase (TGase) and retinoic acid (RA) promoted activation of RhoA by transamidation. Although activation of RhoA promoted cytoskeletal rearrangement in SH-SY5Y cells, it was not involved in induction of neurite outgrowth. Here, we demonstrate that RA promotes activation of Rac1 in SH-SY5Y cells in a transamidation-independent manner. RA-induced activation of Rac1 is mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), probably because of phosphorylation of the p85 regulatory subunit by Src kinases. Over-expression of constitutively active PI3K or Rac1-V12 induces neurite outgrowth, activation of mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and expression of neuronal markers. The PI3K inhibitor LY294002, or over-expression of dominant negative Rac1-N17, blocks RA-induced neurite outgrowth, activation of MAPKs, and expression of neuronal markers, suggesting that activation of PI3K/Rac1 signaling represents a potential mechanism for regulation of neuronal differentiation in SH-SY5Y cells.     

Heterogeneity in retinoic acid signaling in neuroblastomas: Role of matrix metalloproteinases in retinoic acid-induced differentiation

Causes of retinoid resistance often observed in neuroblastomas are unknown. We studied all trans-retinoic acid (RA) signaling in neuroblastoma cells differing in N-myc levels in terms of neurite formation, expression of tissue transglutaminase, neuronal marker proteins, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and activation of Rac1 and Cdc42. Poor invasiveness observed in SH-SY5Y, LA-N-5, and SMS-KCNR cells was associated with RA-induced neurite formation, Cdc42 activation and N-myc down regulation; expression of constitutively active Cdc42 down regulated N-myc expression and reduced invasion in RA-resistant SK-N-BE(2) and IMR32 cells. RA treatment for 24 h transiently increased invasion and expression of MMP9 in SH-SY5Y, LA-N-5 and MMP2 in SMS-KCNR cells. MMP inhibition prevented RA-induced neurite formation indicating a role in differentiation. Variation in RA signaling thus follows a defined pattern and relates to invasive potential. A defective RA signaling might result in retinoid resistance and unpredictable clinical outcome observed in some neuroblastomas.     

Activation of the kinase activity of ATM by retinoic acid is required for CREB-dependent differentiation of neuroblastoma cells

The ATM protein kinase is mutated in ataxia telangiectasia, a genetic disease characterized by defective DNA repair, neurodegeneration, and growth factor signaling defects. The activity of ATM kinase is activated by DNA damage, and this activation is required for cells to survive genotoxic events. In addition to this well characterized role in DNA repair, we now demonstrate a novel role for ATM in the retinoic acid (RA)-induced differentiation of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells into post-mitotic, neuronal-like cells. RA rapidly activates the activity of ATM kinase, leading to the ATM-dependent phosphorylation of the CREB protein, extrusion of neuritic processes, and differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells into neuronal-like cells. When ATM protein expression was suppressed by short hairpin RNA, the ATM-dependent phosphorylation of CREB was blocked. Furthermore, ATM-negative cells failed to differentiate into neuronal-like cells when exposed to retinoic acid; instead, they underwent cell death. Expression of a constitutively active CREBVP16 construct, or exposure to forskolin to induce CREB phosphorylation, rescued ATM negative cells and restored differentiation. Furthermore, when dominant negative CREB proteins with mutations in either the CREB phosphorylation site (CREBS133A) or the DNA binding domain (KCREB) were introduced into SH-SY5Y cells, retinoic acid-induced differentiation was blocked and the cells underwent cell death. The results demonstrate that ATM is required for the retinoic acid-induced differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells through the ATM dependent-phosphorylation of serine 133 of CREB. These results therefore define a novel mechanism for activation of the activity of ATM kinase by RA, and implicate ATM in the regulation of CREB function during RA-induced differentiation.     

Cholesterol supports the retinoic acid-induced synaptic vesicle formation in differentiating human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells

Synaptic vesicle formation, vesicle activation and exo/endocytosis in the pre-synaptic area are central steps in neuronal communication. The formation and localization of synaptic vesicles in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, differentiated with 12-o-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, dibutyryl cyclic AMP, all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) and cholesterol, was studied by fluorescence microscopy and immunocytochemical methods. RA alone or together with cholesterol, produced significant neurite extension and formation of cell-to-cell contacts. Synaptic vesicle formation was followed by anti-synaptophysin (SypI) and AM1-43 staining. SypI was only weakly detected, mainly in cell somata, before 7 days in vitro, after which it was found in neurites. Depolarization of the differentiated cells with high potassium solution increased the number of fluorescent puncta, as well as SypI and AM1-43 co-localization. In addition to increase in the number of synaptic vesicles, RA and cholesterol also increased the number and distribution of lysosome-associated membrane protein 2 labeled lysosomes. RA-induced Golgi apparatus fragmentation was partly avoided by co-treatment with cholesterol. The SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line, differentiated by RA and cholesterol and with good viability in culture, is a valuable tool for basic studies of neuronal metabolism, specifically as a model for dopaminergic neurons.     

Morphological Differentiation Towards Neuronal Phenotype of SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells by Estradiol,Retinoic Acid and Cholesterol

Human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells maintain their potential for differentiation and regression in culture conditions. The induction of differentiation could serve as a strategy to inhibit cell proliferation and tumor growth. Previous studies have shown that differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells can be induced by all-trans-retinoic-acid (RA) and cholesterol (CHOL). However, signaling pathways that lead to terminal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells are still largely unknown. The goal of this study was to examine in the RA and CHOL treated SH-SY5Y cells the additive impacts of estradiol (E₂) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on cell morphology, cell population growth, synaptic vesicle recycling and presence of neurofilaments. The above features indicate a higher level of neuronal differentiation. Our data show that treatment for 10 days in vitro (DIV) with RA alone or when combined with E₂ (RE) or CHOL (RC), but not when combined with BDNF (RB), significantly (p < 0.01) inhibited the cell population growth. Synaptic vesicle recycling, induced by high-K⁺ depolarization, was significantly increased in all treatments where RA was included (RE, RC, RB, RCB), and when all agents were added together (RCBE). Specifically, our results show for the first time that E₂ treatment can alone increase synaptic vesicle recycling in SH-SY5Y cells. This work contributes to the understanding of the ways to improve suppression of neuroblastoma cells’ population growth by inducing maturation and differentiation.     

Constitutive expression and cytoplasmic compartmentalization of ATM protein in differentiated human neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells

Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal, recessive disorder mainly characterized by neuronal degeneration. However, the reason for neuronal degeneration in A-T patients is still unclear. ATM (A-T, mutated), the gene mutated in A-T, encodes a 370-kDa protein kinase. We measured the levels of the ATM protein found in differentiated neuron-like rat PC12 cells and differentiated neuron-like human SH-SY5Y cells. We found that, in rat PC12 cells, ATM levels decreased dramatically after differentiation, which is consistent with previous results observed in differentiated mouse neural progenitor cells. In contrast, the levels of ATM were similar before and after differentiation in human SH-SY5Y cells. Using an indirect immunofluorescence assay, we showed that ATM translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in differentiated human SH-SY5Y cells. The translocation of ATM was further verified by subcellular fractionation experiments. The constitutive expression and cytoplasmic translocation of ATM in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells suggest that ATM is important for maintaining the regular function of human neuronal cells. Our results further demonstrated that, in response to insulin, ATM protects differentiated neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells from serum starvation-induced apoptosis. These data provide the first evidence that cytoplasmic ATM promotes survival of human neuronal cells in an insulin-dependent manner.     

The Impact of Differentiation on Cytotoxicity and Insulin Sensitivity in Streptozotocin Treated SH-SY5Y Cells

Recently neuronal insulin resistance was suggested playing a role in Alzheimer’s disease. Streptozotocin (STZ) is commonly used to induce impairment in insulin metabolism. In our previous work on undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells the compound exerted cytotoxicity without altering insulin sensitivity. Nevertheless, differentiation of the cells to a more mature neuron-like phenotype may considerably affect the significance of insulin signaling and its sensitivity to STZ. We aimed at studying the influence of STZ treatment on insulin signaling in SH-SY5Y cells differentiated by retinoic acid (RA). Cytotoxicity of STZ or low serum (LS) condition and protective effect of insulin were compared in RA differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. The effect of insulin and an incretin analogue, exendin-4 on insulin signaling was also examined by assessing glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) phosphorylation. STZ was found less cytotoxic in the differentiated cells compared to our previous results in undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells. The cytoprotective concentration of insulin was similar in the STZ and LS groups. However, the right-shifted concentration–response curve of insulin induced GSK-3 phosphorylation in STZ-treated differentiated cells is suggestive of the development of insulin resistance that was further confirmed by the insulin potentiating effect of exendin-4. Differentiation reduced the sensitivity of SH-SY5Y cells for the non-specific cytotoxicity of STZ and enhanced the relative significance of development of insulin resistance. The differentiated cells thus serve as a better model for studying the role of insulin signaling in neuronal survival. However, direct cytotoxicity of STZ also contributes to the cell death.

     

Differentiation Induces Dramatic Changes in miRNA Profile,Where Loss of Dicer Diverts Differentiating SH-SY5Y Cells Toward Senescence

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are generated by endonuclease activity of Dicer, which also helps in loading of miRNAs to their target sequences. SH-SY5Y, a human neuroblastoma and a cellular model of neurodevelopment, consistently expresses genes related to neurodegenerative disorders at different biological levels (DNA, RNA, and proteins). Using SH-SY5Y cells, we have studied the role of Dicer and miRNAs in neuronal differentiation and explored involvement of P53, a master regulator of gene expression in differentiation-induced induction of miRNAs. Knocking down Dicer gene induced senescence in differentiating SH-SY5Y cells, which indicate the essential role of Dicer in brain development. Differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells by retinoic acid (RA) or RA + brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) induced dramatic changes in global miRNA expression. Fully differentiated SH-SY5Y cells (5-day RA followed by 3-day BDNF) significantly (p < 0.05 and atleast >3-fold change) upregulated and downregulated the expression of 77 and 17 miRNAs, respectively. Maximum increase was observed in the expression of miR-193-5p, miR-199a-5p, miR-192, miR-145, miR-28-5p, miR-29b, and miR-222 after RA exposure and miR-193-5p, miR-146a, miR-21, miR-199a-5p, miR-153, miR-29b, and miR-222 after RA + BDNF exposure in SH-SY5Y cells. Exploring the role of P53 in differentiating SH-SY5Y cells, we have observed that induction of miR-222, miR-192, and miR-145 is P53 dependent and expression of miR-193a-5p, miR-199a-5p, miR-146a, miR-21, miR-153, and miR-29b is P53 independent. In conclusion, decreased Dicer level enforces differentiating cells to senescence, and differentiating SH-SY5Y cells needs increased expression of P53 to cope up with changes in protein levels of mature neurons.     

应用两种方法诱导SH-SY5Y细胞分化的研究

目的：观察全反式维甲酸（ATRA）处理和ATRA与十四烷酰佛波醇乙酸酯（TPA）序贯处理（ATRA/TPA）对人类神经母细胞瘤细胞系SH-SY5Y细胞增殖抑制和形态分化的影响。方法：应用10μM ATRA处理6天和10μM ATRA处理3天继以80 nMTPA处理3天这两种方法使SH-SY5Y细胞分化;用倒置光学显微镜动态观察SH-SY5Y细胞形态学变化;并用MTT比色法比较两种分化方法对SH-SY5Y细胞的体外抗增殖作用。结果：ATRA处理和ATRA与TPA序贯处理对SH-SY5Y细胞都有抗增值和诱导细胞分化作用,细胞形态发生明显的变化,分化成神经元表型,前者主要表现为两端带有长突起的纺锤体样细胞形态,而后者主要是由细胞体延伸出多个突起的多边形的细胞。ATRA分化6天的细胞的存活率下降为78.7%±2.0%。当去除ATRA后,继续培养1天的细胞存活率上升为89%±0.2%,而继续培养2天的细胞存活率为86.3%±1.4%;ATRA与TPA序贯分化6天细胞存活率下降为75.9±0.4%。当去除TPA后,继续培养一天的细胞存活率为75.5±0.7%,继续培养2天的细胞存活率为74.9±1.0%。结论：维甲酸（ATRA）处理和ATRA与十四烷酰佛波醇乙酸酯（TPA）序贯处理（ATRA/TPA）均能明显诱导SH-SY5Y细胞分化。这两种分化细胞为神经科学的研究提供了优良的体外培养模型细胞,尤其是ATRA与TPA序贯处理能获得分化完全而稳定的神经元样细胞。     

Retinoic acid evoked-differentiation of neuroblastoma cells predominates over growth factor stimulation: an automated image capture and quantitation approach to neuritogenesis.

To facilitate the characterization of compounds that have positive growth factor mimetic effects on neuritogenesis, we have implemented a high-throughput functional assay which measures, in a multiparametric manner, the proliferation and differentiation characteristics of cells in a microtiter plate. Conditions were established using chronic incubation of SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells with retinoic acid (RA) and/or nerve growth factor (NGF) in which discernible alterations in proliferation, growth, and differentiation of cells were induced. SH-SY5Y cells were fixed and labeled by immunocytochemistry, and an automated image acquisition and analysis package on Cellomics ArrayScanII was utilized to quantify the effects of these treatments on cell characteristics. NGF and retinoic acid were found to increase multiple parameters of SH-SY5Y differentiation, including an increased proportion of cells having neurites and increased extent of branching. However, marked differences in the effects of these compounds on SH-SY5Y growth and differentiation were also detected: whereas NGF increased cell number, RA treatment decreased cell number, and RA but not NGF caused significant elongation of neurites. This study quantifies and characterizes the effects of differentiating and proliferating agents on a human-derived neuroblastoma cell line. The high-content, rapid-throughput nature of this assay makes it ideal for functional identification and characterization of compounds regulating cell behavior.     

Inhibition of neuronal cell death after retinoic acid-induced down-regulation of P2X7 nucleotide receptor expression

Apoptosis is a major mechanism for cell death in the nervous system during development. P2X₇ nucleotide receptors are ionotropic ATP receptors that mediate cell death under pathological conditions. We developed an in vitro protocol to investigate the expression and functional responses of P2X₇ nucleotide receptors during retinoic acid (RA)-induced neuronal differentiation of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Neuronal differentiation was examined measuring cellular growth arrest and neuritic processes elongation. We found that SH-SY5Y cells treated for 5 days with RA under low serum content exhibited a neuron-like phenotype with neurites extending more than twice the length of the cell body and cell growth arrest. Concurrently, we detected the abolishment of intracellular-free calcium mobilization and the down-regulation of P2X₇ nucleotide receptor protein expression that protected differentiated cells from neuronal cell death and reduced caspase-3 cleavage-induced by P2X₇ nucleotide receptor agonist. The role of P2X₇ nucleotide receptors in neuronal death was established by selectively antagonizing the receptor with KN-62 prior to its activation. We assessed the involvement of protein kinases and found that p38 signaling was activated in undifferentiated after nucleotide stimulation, but abolished by the differentiating RA pretreatment. Importantly, P2X₇ receptor-induced caspase-3 cleavage was blocked by the p38 protein kinase specific inhibitor PD169316. Taken together, our results suggest that RA treatment of human SH-SY5Y cells leads to decreased P2X₇ nucleotide receptor protein expression thus protecting differentiated cells from extracellular nucleotide-induced neuronal death, and p38 signaling pathway is critically involved in this protection of RA-differentiated cells.     

Cyclophilin A is required for retinoic acid-induced neuronal differentiation in p19 cells

Stable transfectants with expression of small interfering RNA for targeting cyclophilin A (CypA) in p19 cells lose their potential for retinoic acid (RA)-induced neuronal differentiation but not Me(2)SO-induced mesodermal differentiation. This difference suggests that CypA is specifically required for the RA-induced neuronal pathway. In addition to the loss of RA-induced RA receptor beta expression and retinoic acid response element (RARE)-binding activity, a dramatic reduction in RA-induced RARE-mediated luciferase activity in the CypA knockdown cell line suggests that CypA affects RARE-mediated regulation of gene expression. Silent mutation of target sequences confirms the specificity of RNA interference in p19 embryonal carcinoma cells. Collectively, our data reveal that a novel function of CypA is required in the processing of RA-induced neuronal differentiation in p19 embryonal carcinoma cells.