Somatostatin-Mediated Regulation of Retinoic Acid-Induced Differentiation of SH-SY5Y Cells: Neurotransmitters Phenotype Characterization

During brain development, neurite formation plays a critical role in neuronal communication and cognitive function. In the present study, we compared developmental changes in the expression of crucial markers that govern the functional activity of neurons, including somatostatin (SST), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), brain nitric oxide synthase (bNOS), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD-65) and synaptic vesicle protein synaptophysin (SYP) in non-differentiated and retinoic acid (RA)-induced differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. We further determined the role of SST in regulating subcellular distribution and expression of neurotransmitters. Our results indicate that SST potentiates RA-induced differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells and involves regulating the subcellular distribution and expression of neurotransmitter markers and synaptophysin translocation to neurites in a time-dependent manner, anticipating the therapeutic implication of SST in neurodegeneration.