Acetaminophen Induces Human Neuroblastoma Cell Death through NFKB Activation

Neuroblastoma resistance to apoptosis may contribute to the aggressive behavior of this tumor. Therefore, it would be relevant to activate endogenous cellular death mechanisms as a way to improve neuroblastoma therapy. We used the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line as a model to study the mechanisms involved in acetaminophen (AAP)-mediated toxicity by measuring CYP2E1 enzymatic activity, NFkB p65 subunit activation and translocation to the nucleus, Bax accumulation into the mitochondria, cytochrome c release and caspase activation. AAP activates the intrinsic death pathway in the SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell line. AAP metabolism is partially responsible for this activation, because blockade of the cytochrome CYP2E1 significantly reduced but did not totally prevent, AAP-induced SH-SY5Y cell death. AAP also induced NFkB p65 activation by phosphorylation and its translocation to the nucleus, where NFkB p65 increased IL-1β production. This increase contributed to neuroblastoma cell death through a mechanism involving Bax accumulation into the mitochondria, cytochrome c release and caspase3 activation. Blockade of NFkB translocation to the nucleus by the peptide SN50 prevented AAP-mediated cell death and IL-1β production. Moreover, overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-x(L) did not decrease AAP-mediated IL-1β production, but prevented both AAP and IL-1β-mediated cell death. We also confirmed the AAP toxic actions on SK-N-MC neuroepithelioma and U87MG glioblastoma cell lines. The results presented here suggest that AAP activates the intrinsic death pathway in neuroblastoma cells through a mechanism involving NFkB and IL-1β.