Neurotrophic effects of 7,8-dihydroxycoumarin in primary cultured rat cortical neurons

• Published in: Neuroscience bulletin 2012-10, Vol.28 (5), p.493-498
• Main Authors: Yan, Li, Zhou, Xiaowen, Zhou, Xing, Zhang, Zheng, Luo, Huan-Min
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anatomy; Anesthesiology; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cell Survival - physiology; Cerebral Cortex - cytology; Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Human Physiology; mRNA表达; Nerve Growth Factors - chemistry; Nerve Growth Factors - pharmacology; Nerve Regeneration - drug effects; Nerve Regeneration - physiology; Neurology; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - physiology; Neurosciences; Original; Original Article; Pain Medicine; Primary Cell Culture; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Umbelliferones - chemistry; Umbelliferones - pharmacology; 原代培养; 大鼠; 皮层神经元; 神经营养作用; 神经退行性疾病; 羟基香豆素; 脑源性神经营养因子
• ISSN: 1673-7067; 1995-8218
• DOI: 10.1007/s12264-012-1233-7

Objective Neuronal loss in the central nervous system is central to the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases. Pharmaceutical companies have devoted much effort to developing new drugs against such diseases, since there are currently no effective drugs for neurodegenerative disease treatment. Promoting the capacity for nerve regeneration is an ideal treatment target. The present study aimed to investigate the neurotrophic effects of 7,8-dihydroxycoumarin （DHC） or daphnetin in primary cultured rat cortical neurons. Methods Cortical neurons were identified by microtubule-associated protein 2 （MAP2） immunostaining. Morphological observation was used to measure the average length of neurite outgrowth. MTT and lactate dehydrogenase assays were used to assess neuronal survival. The mRNA expression of MAP2 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF） was measured by RT-PCR. Results MAP2 immunostaining showed that most of the cultured cells were neurons. Compared with the vehicle control group, DHC promoted neurite outgrowth and prolonged neuronal survival time at concentrations ranging from 2 to 8 μmol/L. Expression of both BDNF mRNA and MAP2 mRNAwas increased in the groups treated with 2, 4 and 8 μmol/L DHC. Conclusion DHC significantly increases neurite outgrowth and promotes neuronal survival in primary cultured rat cortical neurons. The neurotrophic effects of DHC are probably associated with increased BDNF expression.