Toxicity of Amyloid-β Peptides Varies Depending on Differentiation Route of SH-SY5Y Cells.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder being the major form of dementia worldwide. AD pathology is initiated by cerebral aggregation of amyloid-beta (A beta) peptides in the form of amyloid plaques; however, the mechanism how A beta peptide aggregates participate in the disease progression and neurodegeneration is still under debate. Human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y is a convenient cellular model, which is widely used in biochemical and toxicological studies of neurodegenerative diseases. This model can be further improved by differentiation of the cells toward more neuron-like culture using different protocols. In the current study, dbcAMP, retinoic acid with TPA, or BDNF were used for differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells, and the resulting cultures were tested for the toxicity toward the A beta(42) peptide. The toxicity of A beta(42) peptide depended on the type of differentiated cells: RA and TPA- differentiated cells were most resistant, whereas dbcAMP and RA/BDNF- differentiated cells were more sensitive to Ap toxicity as compared with non-differentiated cells. The differentiated cultures provide more appropriate cellular models of human origin that can be used for studies of the mechanism of A beta pathogenesis and for a screening of compounds antagonistic to the toxicity of A beta peptides.