The effect of bacterial endotoxin on the level of cytokines in the secretome of human neuroblastoma cells of the SH-SY5Y line

Introduction. The problem of identifying bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in pharmaceutical substances and reagents remains relevant. recently, it was shown that the TLR4-PTEN/PI3K/AKT/NF-kB signaling pathway participates in neuroinflammation in rat hippocampal neurons after exposure to i LPS. It can be concluded that there is a relationship between the amount of LPS and its effect on the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors in human neurons. To confirm the theory and to search for changes in cytokine/chemokines levels at the protein level, we selected the SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell culture as one of the most studied neural models.

The aim of the study was to analyze the secretome (cytokines / chemokines, and growth factors) involved in triggering cytokine synthesis in neurons from the culture of neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y after the action of lipopolysaccharides Salmonella typhosa.

Material and methods. To evaluate the concentrations of cytokines / chemokines, and growth factors in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma culture cells after exposure to LPS, we utilized a multi-parameter immunofluorescence method. Potential biomarkers were identified through statistical data analysis methods.

Results. The effect of LPS from Salmonella typhosa on neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell culture led to changes in cytokine / chemokine secretion at the protein level from the first to the fourth day after LPS administration.

Limitations. An in vitro study on cell culture has shown the dependence of the cytokine/chemokine secretome on the studied compounds, but the results cannot be extrapolated to a living organism.

Conclusion. The presence of dose-dependent effects of bacterial endotoxins on cell cultures allows us to consider “determination of marker cytokine levels” as a possible method for quantitative analysis of LPS levels.

Compliance with ethical standards. the study does not require the submission of a biomedical ethics committee opinion or other documents.

Contributions:
Skvortsov N.V. – collection and processing of material, writing a text;
Rogovskaya N.Yu. – collection of material, statistical processing, writing a text;
Beltyukov P.P. – data processing and interpretation, text editing;
Babakov V.N. – the concept and design of the study, editing.
All co-authors are responsible for approving the final version of the article and ensuring the integrity of all parts of the article.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: August 21, 2025 / Revised: September 9, 2025 / Accepted: October 2, 2025 / Published: November 19, 2025

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