Metabolic characterization of SH-SY5Y cells and effects of interferon-alpha exposure

The human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line is a third successive subclone of the SK-N-SH line, originally established from a bone marrow biopsy of a neuroblastoma patient. These cells possess many characteristics of neurons, and they represent one of the most-used models for studying cellular events and mechanisms involved in neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration or even in neuroprotection. Interferons are cytokines endowed with a pleiotropic spectrum of biological properties, including immunomodulation, antiviral and proinflammatory activity. Interferon (IFN)-α is a type I IFN that may have broad-ranging actions in the brain, affecting neuronal differentiation, survival and synaptic plasticity. We previously demonstrated that a 72 hours exposure to IFN-α induces early apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. This prompted us to investigate the metabolic profile of the SH-SY5Y cells using HR-MAS NMR Spectroscopy after a 72 hours exposure to IFN-α to explore the metabolic changes that characterize these cells. Moreover, since a metabolic characterization of this extensively used cell clone is still lacking, we analyzed the metabolic profile of the SH-SY5Y in standard growth conditions. Results show some interesting changes in metabolites, such as choline containing compounds, creatine and glutamate. Our goal will be to relate the metabolic changes to IFN-α exposure.