Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Foreign studies have shown that hyaluronan can contribute to the improvement of motor function after spinal cord injury in rats, but its mechanism is unclear.
OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of hyaluronan on expression of neurotrophic factors in astrocytes.
METHODS: Cultured astrocytes were obtained from the brain of SD rats under sterile conditions. Passage 3 cells were identified by immunochemistry method. Passage 4 cells were treated with hyaluronan (Mr:125 000-175 000) for 24 hours, and control group was set.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results of immunofluoresence showed that the positive rate of primary astrocytes was nearly 100%. The results of Western blotting and reverse transcription-PCR showed that expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and vascular endothelial growth factor were significantly increased in 100 mg/L and 1 000 mg/L groups compared with the control, 1 mg/L and 10 mg/L groups (P < 0.05). Double-labeling immunofluoresence also showed that, under the effect of 1 000 mg/L hyaluronan, the expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in astrocytes were strongly increased compared with the control group. It is confirmed that small molecular-weight hyaluronan can induce astrocytes to up-regulate expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and vascular endothelial growth factor.