Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Modulation of innate immune-related pathways in nicotine-treated SH-SY5Y cells

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Amino Acids Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although nicotine has a broad impact on both the central and peripheral nervous systems, the molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown, especially at the signaling pathway level. To investigate that aspect, we employed both conventional molecular techniques, such as quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting analysis, and high-throughput microarray approach to identify the genes and signaling pathways that are modulated by nicotine. We found 14 pathways significantly altered in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Of these, the Toll-like receptor pathway (TLR; p = 2.57 × 10−4) is one of the most important innate immune pathways. The death receptor pathway (DR; p = 8.71 × 10−4), whose transducers coordinate TLR signals and help conduct the host immune response to infection, was also significantly changed by nicotine. Furthermore, we found that several downstream pathways of TLR and DR signaling, such as PI3K/AKT signaling (p = 9.55 × 10−6), p38 signaling (p = 2.40 × 10−6), and ERK signaling (p = 1.70 × 10−4), were also significantly modulated by nicotine. Interestingly, most of the differentially expressed genes in these pathways leading to nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation and those important inhibitors of pathways leading to apoptosis, including FLIP and Bcl-2, were up-regulated by nicotine. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that nicotine can regulate multiple innate immune-related pathways, and our data thus provide new clues to the molecular mechanisms underlying nicotine’s regulatory effects on neurons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allan LA, Morrice N, Brady S, Magee G, Pathak S, Clarke PR (2003) Inhibition of caspase-9 through phosphorylation at Thr 125 by ERK MAPK. Nat Cell Biol 5:647–654

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ashkenazi A, Dixit VM (1998) Death receptors: signaling and modulation. Science 281:1305–1308

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barr J, Sharma CS, Sarkar S, Wise K, Dong L, Periyakaruppan A, Ramesh GT (2007) Nicotine induces oxidative stress and activates nuclear transcription factor kappa B in rat mesencephalic cells. Mol Cell Biochem 297:93–99

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belluardo N, Mudo G, Blum M, Itoh N, Agnati L, Fuxe K (2004) Nicotine-induced FGF-2 mRNA in rat brain is preserved during aging. Neurobiol Aging 25:1333–1342

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Benjamini Y, Hochberg Y (1995) Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J R Stat Soc B 57:289–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Blalock EM, Geddes JW, Chen KC, Porter NM, Markesbery WR, Landfield PW (2004) Incipient Alzheimer’s disease: microarray correlation analyses reveal major transcriptional and tumor suppressor responses. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:2173–2178

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blalock EM, Chen KC, Stromberg AJ, Norris CM, Kadish I, Kraner SD, Porter NM, Landfield PW (2005) Harnessing the power of gene microarrays for the study of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease: statistical reliability and functional correlation. Ageing Res Rev 4:481–512

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brunzell DH, Russell DS, Picciotto MR (2003) In vivo nicotine treatment regulates mesocorticolimbic CREB and ERK signaling in C57Bl/6J mice. J Neurochem 84:1431–1441

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cantarella G, Uberti D, Carsana T, Lombardo G, Bernardini R, Memo M (2003) Neutralization of TRAIL death pathway protects human neuronal cell line from beta-amyloid toxicity. Cell Death Differ 10:134–141

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao J, Dwyer JB, Mangold JE, Wang J, Wei J, Leslie FM, Li MD (2011) Modulation of cell adhesion systems by prenatal nicotine exposure in limbic brain regions of adolescent female rats. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 14:157–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Casciano I, Banelli B, Croce M, De Ambrosis A, di Vinci A, Gelvi I, Pagnan G, Brignole C, Allemanni G, Ferrini S, Ponzoni M, Romani M (2004) Caspase-8 gene expression in neuroblastoma. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1028:157–167

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen NJ, Chio II, Lin WJ, Duncan G, Chau H, Katz D, Huang HL, Pike KA, Hao Z, Su YW, Yamamoto K, de Pooter RF, Zuniga-Pflucker JC, Wakeham A, Yeh WC, Mak TW (2008) Beyond tumor necrosis factor receptor: TRADD signaling in toll-like receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:12429–12434

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chu ZL, McKinsey TA, Liu L, Gentry JJ, Malim MH, Ballard DW (1997) Suppression of tumor necrosis factor-induced cell death by inhibitor of apoptosis c-IAP2 is under NF-kappaB control. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:10057–10062

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colquhoun D (1987) Molecular neurobiology. A new type of ion-channel block. Nature 329:204–205

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dajas-Bailador FA, Soliakov L, Wonnacott S (2002) Nicotine activates the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 via the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and protein kinase A, in SH-SY5Y cells and hippocampal neurones. J Neurochem 80:520–530

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dajas-Bailador FA, Heimala K, Wonnacott S (2003) The allosteric potentiation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by galantamine is transduced into cellular responses in neurons: Ca2+ signals and neurotransmitter release. Mol Pharmacol 64:1217–1226

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Damaj MI (2000) The involvement of spinal Ca(2+)/calmodulin-protein kinase II in nicotine-induced antinociception in mice. Eur J Pharmacol 404:103–110

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DC C (2008) Smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses–United States, 2000–2004. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 57:1226–1228

    Google Scholar 

  • del Peso L, Gonzalez-Garcia M, Page C, Herrera R, Nunez G (1997) Interleukin-3-induced phosphorylation of BAD through the protein kinase Akt. Science 278:687–689

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Derkach VA, Selyanko AA, Skok VI (1983) Acetylcholine-induced current fluctuations and fast excitatory post-synaptic currents in rabbit sympathetic neurones. J Physiol 336:511–526

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dougherty JD, Garcia AD, Nakano I, Livingstone M, Norris B, Polakiewicz R, Wexler EM, Sofroniew MV, Kornblum HI, Geschwind DH (2005) PBK/TOPK, a proliferating neural progenitor-specific mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. J Neurosci 25:10773–10785

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dudek H, Datta SR, Franke TF, Birnbaum MJ, Yao R, Cooper GM, Segal RA, Kaplan DR, Greenberg ME (1997) Regulation of neuronal survival by the serine-threonine protein kinase Akt. Science 275:661–665

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dunckley T, Lukas RJ (2003) Nicotine modulates the expression of a diverse set of genes in the neuronal SH-SY5Y cell line. J Biol Chem 278:15633–15640

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ermolaeva MA, Michallet MC, Papadopoulou N, Utermohlen O, Kranidioti K, Kollias G, Tschopp J, Pasparakis M (2008) Function of TRADD in tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 signaling and in TRIF-dependent inflammatory responses. Nat Immunol 9:1037–1046

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fenster CP, Beckman ML, Parker JC, Sheffield EB, Whitworth TL, Quick MW, Lester RA (1999) Regulation of alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptor desensitization by calcium and protein kinase C. Mol Pharmacol 55:432–443

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fratiglioni L, Wang HX (2000) Smoking and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease: review of the epidemiological studies. Behav Brain Res 113:117–120

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garrido R, Mattson MP, Hennig B, Toborek M (2001) Nicotine protects against arachidonic-acid-induced caspase activation, cytochrome c release and apoptosis of cultured spinal cord neurons. J Neurochem 76:1395–1403

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guan ZZ, Yu WF, Nordberg A (2003) Dual effects of nicotine on oxidative stress and neuroprotection in PC12 cells. Neurochem Int 43:243–249

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hejmadi MV, Dajas-Bailador F, Barns SM, Jones B, Wonnacott S (2003) Neuroprotection by nicotine against hypoxia-induced apoptosis in cortical cultures involves activation of multiple nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes. Mol Cell Neurosci 24:779–786

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hetman M, Gozdz A (2004) Role of extracellular signal regulated kinases 1 and 2 in neuronal survival. Eur J Biochem 271:2050–2055

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Imtiyaz HZ, Rosenberg S, Zhang Y, Rahman ZS, Hou YJ, Manser T, Zhang J (2006) The Fas-associated death domain protein is required in apoptosis and TLR-induced proliferative responses in B cells. J Immunol 176:6852–6861

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karin M, Lin A (2002) NF-kappaB at the crossroads of life and death. Nat Immunol 3:221–227

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kihara T, Shimohama S, Sawada H, Honda K, Nakamizo T, Shibasaki H, Kume T, Akaike A (2001) Alpha 7 nicotinic receptor transduces signals to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase to block A beta-amyloid-induced neurotoxicity. J Biol Chem 276:13541–13546

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Konu O, Xu X, Ma JZ, Kane J, Wang J, Shi SJ, Li MD (2004) Application of a customized pathway-focused microarray for gene expression profiling of cellular homeostasis upon exposure to nicotine in PC12 cells. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 121:102–113

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li MD, Kane JK, Wang J, Ma JZ (2004) Time-dependent changes in transcriptional profiles within five rat brain regions in response to nicotine treatment. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 132:168–180

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin CH, Yeh SH, Lu KT, Leu TH, Chang WC, Gean PW (2001) A role for the PI-3 kinase signaling pathway in fear conditioning and synaptic plasticity in the amygdala. Neuron 31:841–851

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu ZG, Hsu H, Goeddel DV, Karin M (1996) Dissection of TNF receptor 1 effector functions: JNK activation is not linked to apoptosis while NF-kappaB activation prevents cell death. Cell 87:565–576

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma Y, Liu H, Tu-Rapp H, Thiesen HJ, Ibrahim SM, Cole SM, Pope RM (2004) Fas ligation on macrophages enhances IL-1R1-Toll-like receptor 4 signaling and promotes chronic inflammation. Nat Immunol 5:380–387

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma Y, Li J, Chiu I, Wang Y, Sloane JA, Lu J, Kosaras B, Sidman RL, Volpe JJ, Vartanian T (2006) Toll-like receptor 8 functions as a negative regulator of neurite outgrowth and inducer of neuronal apoptosis. J Cell Biol 175:209–215

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mattson MP, Camandola S (2001) NF-kappaB in neuronal plasticity and neurodegenerative disorders. J Clin Invest 107:247–254

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meffert MK, Baltimore D (2005) Physiological functions for brain NF-kappaB. Trends Neurosci 28:37–43

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meffert MK, Chang JM, Wiltgen BJ, Fanselow MS, Baltimore D (2003) NF-kappa B functions in synaptic signaling and behavior. Nat Neurosci 6:1072–1078

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Messing RO, Stevens AM, Kiyasu E, Sneade AB (1989) Nicotinic and muscarinic agonists stimulate rapid protein kinase C translocation in PC12 cells. J Neurosci 9:507–512

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mihailescu S, Drucker-Colin R (2000) Nicotine, brain nicotinic receptors, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Arch Med Res 31:131–144

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL (2004) Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA 291:1238–1245

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monaghan TK, Pou C, MacKenzie CJ, Plevin R, Lutz EM (2008) Neurotrophic actions of PACAP-38 and LIF on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. J Mol Neurosci 36:45–56

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morens DM, Grandinetti A, Reed D, White LR (1994) Smoking-associated protection from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Lancet 343:356–357

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakayama H, Numakawa T, Ikeuchi T, Hatanaka H (2001) Nicotine-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and CREB in PC12h cells. J Neurochem 79:489–498

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okuda S, Saito H, Katsuki H (1994) Arachidonic acid: toxic and trophic effects on cultured hippocampal neurons. Neuroscience 63:691–699

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish WR, Rosas-Ballina M, Gallowitsch-Puerta M, Ochani M, Ochani K, Yang LH, Hudson L, Lin X, Patel N, Johnson SM, Chavan S, Goldstein RS, Czura CJ, Miller EJ, Al-Abed Y, Tracey KJ, Pavlov VA (2008) Modulation of TNF release by choline requires alpha7 subunit nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated signaling. Mol Med 14:567–574

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Picciotto MR, Zoli M (2008) Neuroprotection via nAChRs: the role of nAChRs in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Front Biosci 13:492–504

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pobezinskaya YL, Kim YS, Choksi S, Morgan MJ, Li T, Liu C, Liu Z (2008) The function of TRADD in signaling through tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 and TRIF-dependent Toll-like receptors. Nat Immunol 9:1047–1054

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prehaud C, Megret F, Lafage M, Lafon M (2005) Virus infection switches TLR-3-positive human neurons to become strong producers of beta interferon. J Virol 79:12893–12904

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rezvani AH, Levin ED (2001) Cognitive effects of nicotine. Biol Psychiatry 49:258–267

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ribas J, Gomez-Arbones X, Boix J (2005) Caspase 8/10 are not mediating apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells treated with CDK inhibitory drugs. Eur J Pharmacol 524:49–52

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz V, Arozarena I, Crespo P (2000) Distinct carboxy-termini confer divergent characteristics to the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38alpha and its splice isoform Mxi2. FEBS Lett 474:169–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Serova L, Sabban EL (2002) Involvement of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in gene expression of dopamine biosynthetic enzymes in rat brain. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 303:896–903

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith MA (1998) Alzheimer disease. Int Rev Neurobiol 42:1–54

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner RC, Heath CJ, Picciotto MR (2007) Nicotine-induced phosphorylation of ERK in mouse primary cortical neurons: evidence for involvement of glutamatergic signaling and CaMKII. J Neurochem 103:666–678

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sweatt JD (2004) Mitogen-activated protein kinases in synaptic plasticity and memory. Curr Opin Neurobiol 14:311–317

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tamura K, Sudo T, Senftleben U, Dadak AM, Johnson R, Karin M (2000) Requirement for p38alpha in erythropoietin expression: a role for stress kinases in erythropoiesis. Cell 102:221–231

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tang SC, Arumugam TV, Xu X, Cheng A, Mughal MR, Jo DG, Lathia JD, Siler DA, Chigurupati S, Ouyang X, Magnus T, Camandola S, Mattson MP (2007) Pivotal role for neuronal Toll-like receptors in ischemic brain injury and functional deficits. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:13798–13803

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tong HX, Lu CW, Zhang JH, Ma L (2007) Combination of gamma-interferon with TRAIL and cisplatin or etoposide induces apoptosis in human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. Chin Med Sci J 22:38–43

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ulloa L (2005) The vagus nerve and the nicotinic anti-inflammatory pathway. Nat Rev Drug Discov 4:673–684

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Antwerp DJ, Martin SJ, Kafri T, Green DR, Verma IM (1996) Suppression of TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis by NF-kappaB. Science 274:787–789

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang CY, Mayo MW, Baldwin AS Jr (1996) TNF- and cancer therapy-induced apoptosis: potentiation by inhibition of NF-kappaB. Science 274:784–787

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang CY, Mayo MW, Korneluk RG, Goeddel DV, Baldwin AS Jr (1998) NF-kappaB antiapoptosis: induction of TRAF1 and TRAF2 and c-IAP1 and c-IAP2 to suppress caspase-8 activation. Science 281:1680–1683

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Yu M, Ochani M, Amella CA, Tanovic M, Susarla S, Li JH, Yang H, Ulloa L, Al-Abed Y, Czura CJ, Tracey KJ (2003) Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha7 subunit is an essential regulator of inflammation. Nature 421:384–388

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Liao H, Ochani M, Justiniani M, Lin X, Yang L, Al-Abed Y, Metz C, Miller EJ, Tracey KJ, Ulloa L (2004) Cholinergic agonists inhibit HMGB1 release and improve survival in experimental sepsis. Nat Med 10:1216–1221

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Gutala R, Sun D, Ma JZ, Sheela RC, Ticku MK, Li MD (2007) Regulation of platelet-derived growth factor signaling pathway by ethanol, nicotine, or both in mouse cortical neurons. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 31:357–375

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei J, Wang J, Dwyer JB, Mangold J, Cao J, Leslie FM, Li MD (2011) Gestational nicotine treatment modulates cell death/survival-related pathways in the brains of adolescent female rats. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 14:91–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson NS, Dixit V, Ashkenazi A (2009) Death receptor signal transducers: nodes of coordination in immune signaling networks. Nat Immunol 10:348–355

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia Z, Dickens M, Raingeaud J, Davis RJ, Greenberg ME (1995) Opposing effects of ERK and JNK-p38 MAP kinases on apoptosis. Science 270:1326–1331

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang YH, Dudoit S, Luu P, Lin DM, Peng V, Ngai J, Speed TP (2002) Normalization for cDNA microarray data: a robust composite method addressing single and multiple slide systematic variation. Nucleic Acids Res 30:e15

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeidler R, Albermann K, Lang S (2007) Nicotine and apoptosis. Apoptosis 12:1927–1943

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou L, Wang X, Wang YJ, Zhou Y, Hu S, Ye L, Hou W, Li H, Ho WZ (2009) Activation of toll-like receptor-3 induces interferon-lambda expression in human neuronal cells. Neuroscience 159:629–637

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The project was supported, in part, by NIH grants DA-013783 to MDL, DA-016149 to SLC, and DA-026356 to SLC and MDL, and China Scholarship Council to WYC. We also thank Drs. David L Bronson and Bhagirathi Dash for their editing and comments on the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China

    Wen-Yan Cui & Jun Gu

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, 1670 Discovery Drive, Suite 110, Charlottesville, VA, 22911, USA

    Wen-Yan Cui, Ju Wang, Jinxue Wei, Junran Cao & Ming D. Li

  3. Department of Biology, Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Sulie L. Chang

Authors
  1. Wen-Yan Cui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ju Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jinxue Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Junran Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sulie L. Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jun Gu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ming D. Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun Gu or Ming D. Li.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 275 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cui, WY., Wang, J., Wei, J. et al. Modulation of innate immune-related pathways in nicotine-treated SH-SY5Y cells. Amino Acids 43, 1157–1169 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-011-1171-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-011-1171-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation