Inhibition of insulin‐like growth factor‐1 receptor and IRS‐2 signaling by ethanol in SH‐SY5Y neuroblastoma cells

The effect of ethanol on insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐I)‐mediated signal transduction and functional activation in neuronal cells was examined. In human SH‐SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, ethanol inhibited tyrosine autophosphorylation of the IGF‐I receptor. This corresponded to the inhibition of IGF‐I‐induced phosphorylation of p42/p44 mitogen‐activated/extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase (MAPK) by ethanol. Insulin‐related substrate‐2 (IRS‐2) and focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation were reduced in the presence of ethanol, which corresponded to the prevention of lamellipodia formation (30 min). By contrast, ethanol had no effect on Shc phosphorylation when measured up to 1 h, and did not affect the association of Grb‐2 with Shc. Neurite formation at 24 h was similarly unaffected by ethanol. The data indicate that the IGF‐I receptor is a target for ethanol in SH‐SY5Y cells However, there is diversity in the sensitivity of signaling elements within the IGF‐I receptor tyrosine kinase signaling cascades to ethanol, which can be related to the inhibition of specific functional events in neuronal activation.