Three-dimensional nano-level morphological changes of hippocampal neurons either being damaged or protected / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of p38 MAPK inhibition in reducing the damage to rat's hippocampal neurons caused by kainic acid (KA) and observe the three-dimensional morphological changes on the cell surface. Methods The rat's hippocampal neurons cultured primarily for 10 days were pretreated with SB203580 (0.2 ?mol/L, a p38 MAPK inhibitor). Thirty minutes later, the hippocampal neurons were administered with KA at concentrations of 0, 25 and 250 ?mol/L for action for 10 and 100 minutes respectively. The cellular membrane structure was scanned and examined at nano-level by using atomic force microscope. Results Normal neurons displayed smooth membrane surface with homogeneous and regular undulation. In contrast, the neurons treated with KA showed coarse membrane surface with holes. Furthermore, the degree changes increased with the action time and the KA concentrations in a dose-effect dependent fashion. The above-mentioned changes were obviously mitigated by means of pretreatment with SB203580 (200 nmol/L). Conclusions Inhibition of p38 MAPK may, in certain degrees, protect the neurons against the impairments on cytomembrane resulted from the toxic effect of KA.