Sub-micromolar concentrations of retinoic acid induce morphological and functional neuronal phenotypes in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells.

Neuroblastoma cells are neural crest derivatives that can differentiate into neuron-like cells in response to exogenous agents, and are known to be particularly sensitive to retinoic acid. The spectrum of neuroblastoma responses, ranging from proliferation, migration, differentiation, or apoptosis, is difficult to predict due to the heterogeneity of these tumors and to the broad effective range of retinoic acid. Our study focused on the effects of nanomolar concentrations of retinoic acid on neuroblastoma differentiation in two cell lines cells: SK-N-SH (HTB-11) and IMR-32. Each cell line was treated with retinoic acid from 1 to 100 nM for up to 6 d. Morphological changes were quantified; immunocytochemistry was used to observe changes in neuronal protein expression and localization, while live-cell calcium imaging utilizing pharmacological agents was conducted to identify neuron-like activity. Retinoic acid-treated HTB-11 but not IMR-32 cells developed specific neuronal phenotypes: acquisition of long neurite-like processes, expression of neurofilament-200, increased responsiveness to acetylcholine, and decreased responsiveness to nicotine and epinephrine. In addition, nanomolar levels of retinoic acid elicited increased nuclear trafficking of the CRABP2, which is traditionally associated with gene expression of cellular pathways related to neuronal differentiation. Collectively, these results show that nanomolar concentrations of retinoic acid are capable of inducing both structural and functional neuron-like features in HTB-11 cells using CRABP2, suggesting differentiation in neuroblastoma cells into neuronal phenotypes. These have important implications for both chemotherapeutic design and for the use of neuroblastomas as in vitro models for neuron differentiation.