Effect of amyloid-β protein on cultured neural stem cells of fetal rat

Objective To investigate the effect of amyloid-β protein(Aβ).on neural stem cells (NSCs) of fetal rat cerebrum in vitro.Methods NSCs of fetal rat cerebrum were cultured for 60h with Aβ_ 1-40 at different concentrations(the concentrations of Aβ_ 1-40 were 0.01、0.05、0.1、1、5、10、20 μmol/L).The concentrations of NO and LDH in cultured NSCs suspernatant were measured.The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in NSCs was identified with immunohistochemical method.After NSCs were cultured for 60 h and induced for 72 h,MAP-2 and GFAP were measured as above.Results The contents of NO and LDH in culture supernatant increased obviously when NSCs were exposed to Aβ_ 1-40 for 60 h as compared with the control group.Bcl-2 levels decreased markedly and Bax levels increased markedly with increasing concentration of Aβ_ 1-40 . MAP-2 and GFAP levels were lowered markedly after 72 h differentiation of NSCs. Conclusions Amyloid-beta protein can increase cell toxicity of NSCs, decrease the integrity of cell membrane and can induce apoptosis of NSCs.