Evaluation of SK-N-SH Cells as a Model for NMDA Receptor Induced Toxicity.
Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology August 30, 2024 Gunnar Goerges, Paul Disse, Stefan Peischard et al. 2 citations
Human SK-N-SH cells, both non-differentiated and differentiated, express GluN1 and GluN2B subunits of the NMDA receptor. Exposure to 50 mM (S)-glutamate caused an immediate decrease in cell survival. The unselective NMDA receptor blocker ketamine protected differentiated cells against this toxicity, whereas the GluN2B-selective inhibitor WMS14-10 did not significantly increase cell survival. Higher differentiation levels increased sensitivity to (S)-glutamate-mediated cytotoxicity, which is only partially driven by NMDA receptor overstimulation. Unselective NMDA receptor inhibition can partially reverse (S)-glutamate-induced toxicity, suggesting that SK-N-SH cells are a limited model for studying NMDA receptor-mediated neurodegeneration.