Taurine induces proliferation of neural stem cells and synapse development in the developing mouse brain

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid present in high concentrations in mammalian tissues. It has been implicated in several processes involving brain development and neurotransmission. However, the role of taurine in hippocampal neurogenesis during brain development is still unknown. Here we sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-08, Vol.7 (8), p.e42935-e42935
Main Authors: Shivaraj, Mattu Chetana, Marcy, Guillaume, Low, Guoliang, Ryu, Jae Ryun, Zhao, Xianfeng, Rosales, Francisco J, Goh, Eyleen L K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Analysis
Animal tissues
Animals
Biology
Brain
Brain - embryology
Brain - enzymology
Brain - growth & development
Brain research
Brain slice preparation
Cell growth
Cell Proliferation
Cells (biology)
Dentate gyrus
Epidermal growth factor
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - embryology
Hippocampus - enzymology
Hippocampus - growth & development
In Vitro Techniques
Kinases
MAP Kinase Signaling System
Medical schools
Memory
Metabolic pathways
Mice
Nervous system
Neural stem cells
Neural Stem Cells - cytology
Neurogenesis
Neurons
Neurosciences
Neurotransmission
Nutrition research
Phosphorylation
Progenitor cells
Proteins
R&D
Rats
Research & development
Stem cell transplantation
Stem cells
Sulfur
Synapses - physiology
Synapsin
Taurine
Taurine - physiology
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Summary:Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid present in high concentrations in mammalian tissues. It has been implicated in several processes involving brain development and neurotransmission. However, the role of taurine in hippocampal neurogenesis during brain development is still unknown. Here we show that taurine regulates neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the developing brain as well as in cultured early postnatal (P5) hippocampal progenitor cells and hippocampal slices derived from P5 mice brains. Taurine increased cell proliferation without having a significant effect on neural differentiation both in cultured P5 NPCs as well as cultured hippocampal slices and in vivo. Expression level analysis of synaptic proteins revealed that taurine increases the expression of Synapsin 1 and PSD 95. We also found that taurine stimulates the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 indicating a possible role of the ERK pathway in mediating the changes that we observed, especially in proliferation. Taken together, our results demonstrate a role for taurine in neural stem/progenitor cell proliferation in developing brain and suggest the involvement of the ERK1/2 pathways in mediating these actions. Our study also shows that taurine influences the levels of proteins associated with synapse development. This is the first evidence showing the effect of taurine on early postnatal neuronal development using a combination of in vitro, ex-vivo and in vivo systems.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0042935