Palmitic acid-induced defects in cell cycle progression and cytokinesis in Neuro-2a cells

Obesity is associated with elevated levels of free fatty acids (FFAs). Excessive saturated fatty acids (SFAs) exhibit significant deleterious cytotoxic effects in many types of cells. However, the effects of palmitic acid (PA), the most common circulating SFA, on cell cycle progression in neuronal cells have not been well-examined. The aim of this study was to examine whether PA affects the proliferation and cell cycle progression in mouse neuroblastoma Neuro-2a (N2a) cells. Our studies found that 200 mu M PA significantly decreased DNA synthesis and mitotic index in N2a cells as early as 4 h following treatment. 24 h treatment with 200 mu M PA significantly decreased the percentage of diploid (2 N) cells while dramatically increasing the percentage of tetraploid (4 N) cells as compared to the BSA control. Moreover, our studies found that 24 h treatment with 200 mu M PA increased the percentage of binucleate cells as compared to the BSA control. Our studies also found that unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), including linoleic acid, oleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid, were able to abolish PA-induced decrease of 2 N cells, increase of 4 N cells, and accumulation of binucleate cells. Taken together, these results suggest that PA may affect multiple aspects of the cell cycle progression in N2a cells, including decreased DNA synthesis, G2/M arrest, and cytokinetic failure, which could be abolished by UFAs.