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Taurine increases hippocampal neurogenesis in aging mice.
Journal article

Taurine increases hippocampal neurogenesis in aging mice.

  • Gebara E Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: eliasgeorges.gebara@unil.ch.
  • Udry F Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: florian.udry@fa2.ch.
  • Sultan S Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: sebastien.sultan@unil.ch.
  • Toni N Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Nicolas.toni@unil.ch.
  • 2015-04-19
Published in:
  • Stem cell research. - 2015
Aging
Animals
Cell Proliferation
Cells, Cultured
Dentate Gyrus
Hippocampus
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Neural Stem Cells
Neurogenesis
Rats, Inbred F344
Taurine
English Aging is associated with increased inflammation and reduced hippocampal neurogenesis, which may in turn contribute to cognitive impairment. Taurine is a free amino acid found in numerous diets, with anti-inflammatory properties. Although abundant in the young brain, the decrease in taurine concentration with age may underlie reduced neurogenesis. Here, we assessed the effect of taurine on hippocampal neurogenesis in middle-aged mice. We found that taurine increased cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus through the activation of quiescent stem cells, resulting in increased number of stem cells and intermediate neural progenitors. Taurine had a direct effect on stem/progenitor cells proliferation, as observed in vitro, and also reduced activated microglia. Furthermore, taurine increased the survival of newborn neurons, resulting in a net increase in adult neurogenesis. Together, these results show that taurine increases several steps of adult neurogenesis and support a beneficial role of taurine on hippocampal neurogenesis in the context of brain aging.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/148292
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