Taurine stimulates proliferation of mice embryonic cultured neural progenitor cells

Abstract

Taurine is present in high levels in fetal brain which decrease in the adult, suggesting its role in brain development. In some regions of taurine deficient animals cells show defective migration and the presence of numerous mitotic figures, suggesting a delay in cell proliferation. To know more about the role of taurine in the developing brain cells, the present study investigated whether taurine is a factor involved in proliferation or/and viability of neural progenitor cells (NPC). NPC were obtained from 13.5-days mice embryos mesencephalon, and cultured during 4-5 days to form neurospheres in the presence of EGF plus FGFb (EGF/FGF) or EGF alone. Mesencephalon taurine content (349 mmoles/kg protein) was lost in NPC and recovered after addition of 10 mM taurine to the culture. Neurospheres-forming NPC were over 94% nestin-positive. Taurine increased 38.6% and 43.2% the number of NPC formed in EGF/FGF or EGF conditions, respectively. In secondary neurospheres this increase was 24.6% and 62.1%, in EGF/FGF or EGF cultures respectively. Correspondingly neurospheres size was increased by taurine but neurospheres number was not enhanced. Taurine significantly increased the number of BrdU-positive cells, without affecting cell viability, suggesting proliferation as the mechanism responsible for taurine action increasing NPC. Taurine seems unable to increase the number of beta-III-tubulin-positive cells differentiated from neurospheres after serum addition, and rather an increase in astrocytes was observed. These results point to taurine as a trophic factor contributing to optimize NPC proliferation.

Taurine Enhances the Growth of Neural Precursors Derived from Fetal Human Brain and Promotes Neuronal Specification

“…This result confirms our previous observation in cells obtained from the mesencephalon of embryonic mouse brain, as well as the recently reported results on NPCs from hippocampi of rodent embryos [11,12]; however, this is the first study on taurineʼs effects in NPCs of human origin. A study by Chen et al [17] reported that taurine (8-10 m M ) increased the proliferation of human fetal neuronal cells, although these are not NPCs but cells committed to form neurons.…”

“…A study by Chen et al [17] reported that taurine (8-10 m M ) increased the proliferation of human fetal neuronal cells, although these are not NPCs but cells committed to form neurons. The taurine-induced proliferation of NPCs is significant in cells of embryonic origin, at 28% in hippocampal cells and 39% in the mesencephalon [11,12]. This effect of taurine is even more evident in cells obtained from the SVZ of the adult mouse, showing that taurine increased the number of NPCs in the culture by 120%, one of the highest reported percentages for any of the molecules that positively regulate NPC proliferation [13].…”

“…Recent studies have shown that taurine increases the number of cultured neural progenitor cells obtained from the embryonic mouse mesencephalon [11], the hippocampal dentate gyrus [12] and the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles of adult mice [13]. These studies found that taurine increases the number of cells and neurospheres formed.…”

Chondroprotective Effects of Taurine in Primary Cultures of Human Articular Chondrocytes

“…Its cytoprotective role has been reported in various cell types, including hepatocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells, and PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells (Kearns and Dawson 2000;Li et al 2004;Heidari et al 2012). It could also stimulate cell proliferation in neural stem/progenitor cells, neural progenitor cells and osteoblast cells (Jeon et al 2007;Hernandez-Benitez et al 2010. Taurine inhibited serum deprivationinduced cell apoptosis via the taurine transporter and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway, and increased cell proliferation by ERK 1/2 activation (Jeon et al 2007;Zhang et al 2011).…”

Tauroursodeoxycholic acid increases neural stem cell pool and neuronal conversion by regulating mitochondria-cell cycle retrograde signaling

“…1F). Given the well-established survival role of taurine in several biological processes including anti-oxidation, radioprotection, detoxification and proliferation, [27][28][29] we evaluated the role of taurine in modulating mtROS and ATP production levels. Taurine had no significant effect on both mtROS and ATP levels, indicating that TUDCA function is not dependent on its taurine-conjugated moiety (Fig.…”