ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of Taurine on the differentiation of neural stem cells(NSCs)in fetal rats with intrauterine growth restriction( IUGR),and to explore the neuroprotective mechanism of Taurine. Methods IUGR fetal rats models were established with low protein diet. NSCs from subventricular zone( SVZ)were isolated and cultured in υitro. The NSCs were divided into 3 groups:normal control group,IUGR group,and IUGR+Taurine group. The cells were examined by adopting immunofluorescence for counting βⅢ-tubulin protein,glial fibril-lary acidic protein(GFAP)and myelin basic protein(MBP)-positive cells. Protein levels of βⅢ-tubulin and GFAP were detected by using Western blot. Results (1)The number of βⅢ-tubulin protein positive cells in normal control group,IUGR group and IUGR+Taurine group were(18. 50 ± 0. 64)%,(15. 61 ± 0. 76)% and(18. 42 ± 0. 82)%, respectively;the number of GFAP positive cells in normal control group,IUGR group and IUGR+Taurine group were (72. 19 ± 0. 82)%,(74. 87 ± 0. 67)% and(71. 68 ± 0. 92)%,respectively;and the differences were statistically sig-nificant(F＝49. 103,44. 643,all P<0. 01). Compared with the normal control group,βⅢ-tubulin protein positive cells in IUGR group decreased significantly(P<0. 01),but GFAP positive cells in IUGR group increased significantly (P<0. 01). Compared with IUGR Group,βⅢ-tubulin protein positive cells in IUGR+Taurine group increased sig-nificantly(P<0. 01),but GFAP positive cells in IUGR+Taurine group decreased significantly(P<0. 01). There was no significant difference between groupⅠand groupⅢ(all P>0. 05).(2)The levels of βⅢ-tubulin protein in nor- mal control group,IUGR group and IUGR+Taurine group were 0. 44 ± 0. 02,0. 33 ± 0. 03 and 0. 42 ± 0. 02,respective-ly;and the levels of GFAP protein in normal control group,IUGR group and IUGR+Taurine group were 1. 13 ± 0. 02, 1. 50 ± 0. 04,1. 21 ± 0. 01,respectively;and the differences were statistically significant(F＝45. 191,234. 525,all P<0. 01). Compared with normal control group,the levels of βⅢ-tubulin protein in IUGR group decreased significantly (P<0. 01),but the levels of GFAP in IUGR group increased significantly(P<0. 01). Compared with IUGR group, the levels of βⅢ-tubulin protein in IUGR+Taurine group increased significantly(P<0. 01),but the levels of GFAP in IUGR+Taurine group decreased significantly(P<0. 01). There was no significant difference between normal control group and IUGR+Taurine group(all P>0. 05). Conclusions Taurine can promote the differentiation of NSCs toward neurons in IUGR fetal rats,and maintain the normal proportion of all differentiated cells.