UDP exerts cytostatic and cytotoxic actions in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells over-expressing P2Y6 receptor

The role of P2 receptors for purines/pyrimidines is not well characterized in neuroblastoma, although a variety of purinergic mRNAs/proteins are expressed in these cells. Among these, the P2Y6 receptor is the only subtype distinguished by UDP-specific activation. In this work, after over-expressing the P2Y6 protein in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, we find that UDP arrests cell cycle and induces apoptosis, by counteracting the pathological functioning of neuroblastoma in vitro. UDP also causes mitochondrial damage through diffusion of cytochrome c in the cytoplasm, and stimulates caspase-3,7,8 activities, with extensive over-expression of manganese superoxide dismutase. Our data establish the direct toxic role and anti-cancer activity of UDP in a neuroblastoma cell line, and identify the P2Y6 receptor as a novel potential target in anti-tumoural therapies. This constitutes an advancement not only in the knowledge of purinergic signalling, but also in the biological and pathological aspects of neuroblastoma in vitro.