Antenatal taurine reduces cerebral cell apoptosis in fetal rats with intrauterine growth restriction

From pregnancy to parturition, Sprague-Dawley rats were daily administered a low protein diet to establish a model of intrauterine growth restriction. From the 12th day of pregnancy, 300 mg/kg taurine was daily added to food until spontaneous delivery occurred. Brain tissues from normal neonatal rats at 6 hours after delivery, neonatal rats with intrauterine growth restriction, and neo- natal rats with intrauterine growth restriction undergoing taurine supplement were obtained for fur- ther experiments. The terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase （TdT）-mediated biotin-16-dUTP nick-end labeling assay revealed that the number of apoptotic cells in the brain tissue of neonatal rats with intrauterine growth restriction significantly increased. Taurine supplement in pregnant rats reduced cell apoptosis in brain tissue from neonatal rats with intrauterine growth restriction. Immu- nohistochemical staining revealed that taurine supplement increased glial cell line-derived neuro- trophic factor expression and decreased caspase-3 expression in the cerebral cortex of intrauterine growth-restricted fetal rats. These results indicate that taurine supplement reduces cell apoptosis through the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor-caspase-3 signaling pathway, resulting in a protective effect on the intrauterine growth-restricted fetal rat brain.

Expression of c-Fos protein and nitricoxide synthase in neurons of cerebral cortex from fetal rats in hypoxia and protective role of Angelica sinensis

BACKGROUND： Both c-Fos protein and nitricoxide synthase （NOS） have been used as general indexes in relative research about neurons, but it is lack of reports that c-Fos protein and NOS are applied synchronously to study the neurons of hypoxic fetal rats in uterus. OBJECTIVE： To study the effect of hypoxia in uterus on the expression of c-Fos protein and NOS in neurons of cerebral cortex from fetal rats and whether Angelica sinensis has the protective effect on these neurons in hypoxia. DESIGN： Randomized control experiment.SETTING ： Department of Histology and Embryology, Luzhou Medical College.MATERIALS ： Twelve adult female Wistar rats in oestrum and 1 male Wistar rat with bodymass from 220 to 250 g were chosen. Parenteral solution of Angelica sinensis mainly contained angelica sinensis, 10 mL/ampoule, was provided by Department of Agent of the Second Hospital Affiliated to Hubei Medical University （batch number： 01062310）. METHODS ： This experiment was completed in the Department of Histology and Embryology of Luzhou Medical College from September 2003 to June 2004. ①Twelve adult female Wistar rats in oestrum and 1 male Wistar rat were housed in one rearing cage. Vaginal embolus was performed on conceive female rat at 8： 00 am next day. On the 15^th conceiving day, all conceiving rats were divided randomly into three groups： control group, hypoxia group and Angelica group with 4 in each group. Rats in hypoxia group and Angelica group were modeled with hypotonic hypoxia in uterus. Angelica group： Rats were injected with 8 mL/kg Angelica sinensis injection through caudal veins before hypoxia. Hypoxia group： Rats were injected with the same volume of saline. Control group： Rats were not modeled and fed with normal way. ② Twenty embryos of rats were chosen randomly from each group and then routinely embedded in paraffin. Paraffin sections were cut from the brain of embryos to anterior fontanelle. Double-label staining was used to detect the expression of nNOS and c-Fos in neurons of cerebral cortex from embryos of rats. OLYMPUS Bx-50 microscope was used to observe sections and DP12 digit camera was also used under 400 times to detect types of cells. Under microscope, the number of c-Fos, NOS, c-Fos/NOS positive neurons in cerebral cortex from embryos of rats were counted in 2 fields with magnification of 400 in one section per animal. ③ The data in experiments were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance （ANOVA） followed by q test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： ① Results of immunohistochemical double-label staining of c-Fos/NOS from cerebral cortex; ② Comparison of amount immunohistochemical double-label staining of c-Fos/NOS positive cells from cerebral cortex. RESULTS：① The positive NOS cells and c-Fos/NOS cells in the three groups were mainly distributed in cerebral cortex, but positive c-Fos neurons were not observed. ② Positive NOS cells and c-Fos/NOS cells in hypoxia group were more than those in control group （76.55±12.02, 50.45±10.39; 33.35±7.42, 26.35±6.67, P 〈 0.05）, but those in Angelica group were less than those in hypoxia group （51.70±9.82, 35.65±8.37, P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Hypoxia can stimulate the increase of expression of c-Fos protein and NOS in neurons of cerebral cortex. However, Angelica sinensis can decrease this expression so as to play a protective role in cerebral neurons of hypoxic fetal rats.

An improved primary culture method for hippocampal neurons in fetal rats and MAP2 identification

Objective： To establish a simple, effective and high-purity primary culture method for fetal rat hippocampalneurons. Methods： Wistar rats of gestational age 18 days were taken and the brain tissue was separated under themicroscope. Single neuronal cells were obtained by digestion with Brain Dissociation Kit, and then were seeded incell plates to observe the basic morphologic structure after 24h, 3d, and 5d. Immunofluorescence of microtubuleassociated protein 2 was applied to assess cell purity of the culture. Results： The hippocampal neurons obtained inthis culture method are in good condition and grow vigorously. On the 7th day after culture, the purity of neuronswas up to 99.62%. Conclusion： The method is simple and effective for obtaining the high-purity and stableneurons.

Dexmedetomidine mitigates isoflurane-induced neurodegeneration in fetal rats during the second trimester of pregnancy

Dexmedetomidine has significant neuroprotective effects. However, whether its protective effects can reduce neurotoxicity caused by isoflurane in fetal brain during the second trimester of pregnancy remains unclear. In this study, timed-pregnancy rats at gestational day 14 spontaneously inhaled 1.5% isoflurane for 4 hours, and were intraperitoneally injected with dexmedetomidine at dosages of 5, 10, 20, and 20 μg/kg 15 minutes before inhalation and after inhalation for 2 hours. Our results demonstrate that 4 hours after inhaling isoflurane, 20 μg/kg dexmedetomidine visibly mitigated isoflurane-induced neuronal apoptosis, reversed downregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression, and lessened decreased spatial learning and memory ability in adulthood in the fetal rats. Altogether, these findings indicate that dexmedetomidine can reduce neurodegeneration induced by isoflurane in fetal rats during the second trimester of pregnancy. Further, brain-derived neurotrophic factor participates in this process.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN DIFFERENT EXPRESSION AND ORGANIZATION OF COLLAGEN IN SKIN WOUNDS OF ADULT AND FETAL RATS

Objective To observe the spatial and temporal distribution of collagen in fetal and adult rats wounds. Methods The organization of collagen deposition in fetal and adult rats skin wounds were observed by using van Gieson stain. The methods of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were applied to examine collagen type Ⅰ and Ⅲ peptide and mRNA localization at serial time point during wound healing. Results Collagen type Ⅰ and Ⅲ were present in wounds of both fetal and adult rats, but the timing and pattern of collagen deposition varied. In the fetus, collagen wes detected by 48h postwounding (PW), but uns not present in the adult wounds until 5d PW. N in situ hybridization, signals in the area of the fetal wound were clearly greater and with increased number of cells as compered to that in the adjacent unwounded tissue. Adult rat wounds had evidence in increased signals of procollagen type Ⅰ and Ⅲ production by wound fibroblasts on day 5. Collagen deposited and wes arranged in reticular pattern as that of the nounal in fetal wounds. While in the adult wound, collagen deposited in the fashion of course bundles. bundles Conclusion Fetal rat wounds appeared to produce collagen mainly by an increased number offibroblasts in the area of the wound. In contrast, adult rat wounds underwent fibroblast migration and induction of procollagen mRNA synthesis. Our results Suggest that the deposition of collagen type Ⅰ and Ⅲ is regulated by their gene expression. Chllagen type Ⅲ plays an important role in the arrangement of collagen depoition.

The Potential of Rat Inner Cell Mass and Fetal Neural Stem Cells to Generate Chimeras

The rat chimera is an important animal model for the study of complex human diseases. In the present study we evaluated the chimeric potential of rat inner cell masses （ICMs） and fetal neural stem （FNS） cells. In result, three rat chimeras were produced by day 5 （D5） Sprague-Dawley （SD） blastocysts injected with ICMs derived from day 6 （D6） and D5 Dark Agouti （DA） blastocysts; four rat chimeras had been generated by D5 DA blastocyst injected with D5 SD ICMs. For the requirement of gene modification, cultured rat inner cell mass cells were assessed to produce chimeras, but no chimeras were generated from injected embryos. The potential to generate chimeras from rFNS and transfected rFNS cells were tested, but no chimeric pups were produced. Only 2 of 41 fetuses derived from D5 DA blastocyst injection with SD LacZ transfected rFNS cells showed very low number of LacZ positive cells in the section. These results indicate that DA and SD rat ICMs arc able to contribute to chimeras, but their potential decreases significantly after culture in vitro （P〈0.05）, and rFNS cells only have the potential to contribute to early fetal development.

ALP Induction by β－glycerophosphate during the Nonmineralization Phase In Vitro

β-GP influences on rat osteoblast development at the early period of culture i.e , the non-mineralization phase, and changes with the different cell passages were investigated. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was chosen as a main object. Northern blot analysis revealed up to two-fold increase in the steady statelevel of ALP mRNA after stimulation of rat osteoblast with 10 mM β-GP- Likewise, 10 mM β-GP induced a 10─30 % increase in ALP activity (P< 0. 01) of early passages (1 to 4), but not of later passages (5 to 6). The β-GP induced increase in ALP activity was totally inhibited by the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (50 μM).β- GP stimulation was found to be without effect on cell proliferation measured as 3H-thymidine incorporation. It is concluded that β-GP has no effect on proliferation but induces an increase in both mRNA level and activity of ALP in the non-mineralization phase of cultures of fetal rat calvarial cells , which lasts for several passages but will disappear in older cultures.

Differentiation of Osteoblast in vitro Is Regulated by Progesterone

The regulation of cellular differentiation by progesterone in fetal rat calvarial osteoblasts was investigated. Our results showed that cells cultured in the presence of progesterone had a 7% increase in the alkaline phosphatase activity when compared to untreated cells. The concentration of osteocalcin in the conditioned medium from progesterone treated osteoblasts was 28% higher than that of untreated controls. In addition,administration of progesterone significantly enhanced the number and area of bone nodules. In conclusion, progesterone stimulates the differentiation of fetal rat calvarial osteoblastic cells in vitro

MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF FETAL NEOCORTICAL TRANSPLANT GRAFTED TO THE CEREBRAL CORRESPONDING AREA IN YOUNG RATS DIFFERENTIATION OF IMMATURE NEURONS AND RECIPROCAL CONNECTIONS OF FIBERS BETWEEN GRAFT-HOST BRAIN

The fetal neocortical transplant (E15-17 days gestation) of Wistar rat was grafted to the corresponding neocortical region (frontal-parietal lobe) of the same strain in young rats (4-5 weeks old). On the 7th, 15th, 30th, 60th, 150th day after transplantation, the sections cut through the middle area of graft-ost brain were examined by HE, Nissl, Glees stain, immunohistochemical technique for GFAP and NF, Nissl, Glees stain, immunohistochemical technique for GFAP and NF, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemistry as well as horseradish peroxidase (HRP) retrograde tracing with light microscope. Some of the sections were also examined with TEM. The result showed that most immature neurons within the graft can survive, grow, differentiate and mature, and are similar to the structure of the neocortical neurons of host brain. This study also provides patterns of integration of the interface between graft-host brain varying with the proliferation of reactive astrocyte as well as graft-host reciprocal connection of fibers.

EFFECTS OF DAURISOLINE ON CYTOSOLIC FREE CALCIUMIN FETAL RAT CEREBRAL CELLS

Cytosolic free Ca([Ca]i)was measured in dissociated cerebral cells isolated from fetal rats with the fluorescent indicater fura-2. Increase in[Ca]i occurred rapidly following explsure of the cells to 50 mmol/L KCI,10mol/L Bayk 8644 or 200μmol/L glutamate（Glu）.[Ca]i elevated by

大鼠肝癌细胞膜相关胚胎抗原的研究

用非标记免疫酶技术观察比较了33例大鼠移植性肝癌BERH-2,1例二乙基亚硝胺诱发原发性大鼠肝癌和18例不同胎龄的胚胎鼠肝组织。证明在癌细胞的表面膜上存在着一种胚胎性抗原。这种胚胎抗原在13—14天胚胎肝细胞表面反应强烈,随着胚胎发育而减弱,在大多数正常成年大鼠肝细胞中则呈阴性或弱阳性。二乙基亚硝胺诱发大鼠肝脏癌变后,这种胚胎抗原在癌细胞表面膜上又呈强阳性反应。