Research of Taurine in improving the differentiation of neural stem cells in fetal rats with intrauterine growth restriction

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 vitro.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 fibrillary 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 significant(F=49.103, 44.643, all P 0.05). (2)The levels of βⅢ-tubulin protein in normal control group, IUGR group and IUGR+ Taurine group were 0.44±0.02, 0.33±0.03 and 0.42±0.02, respectively; 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 0.05). Conclusions Taurine can promote the differentiation of NSCs toward neurons in IUGR fetal rats, and maintain the normal proportion of all differentiated cells. Key words: Taurine; Intrauterine growth restriction; Neural stem cells; Differentiation; βⅢ-tubulin; Glial fibrillary acidic protein