Effects of U0126 and dexamethasone on the expression of aquaporin-4 in Sprague-Dawley rat astrocytes cultured by the ammonia

Objective To investigate the effect of the U0126,a MAPKs signal transduction pathway inhibitor,and the dexamethasone on the expression of aquaporin-4(AQP4) in Sprague-Dawley rat astrocytes cultured by the ammonia.Methods Brain astrocytes in Sprague-Dawley rat were isolated and cultured,and then divided into ammonia group,ammonia+U0126 group,ammonia+dexamethasone group and normal control group.The immunohistochemistry(IHC) and revere transcription ploy-merase chain reaction were used to detect the expressional changes of AQP4 protein and mRNA.Results Compared with control group,astrocytes cultured with ammonia increased the expression of AQP4 mRNA and protein.However,the expression of AQP4 mRNA and protein could be inhibited by Dexamethasone and U0126.Conclusion Ammonia can increase the expression of AQP4,dexamethasone and U0126 can effectively protect the brain astrocyte effectively.