Abstract:

Objective     To study the toxic effect and its mechanisms of TaClo on rat dopaminergic neurons. Methods      Primary neuron-enriched and mesencephalic cultures were exposed to five different doses of TaClo (50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000μmol/L) for 72 hours. Potential neurotoxicity was detected in morphology and by TH staining. Caspase3 was detected by Western blot after exposure to two different doses of TaClo (50 and 200μmol/L)  for 1 hour and 24 hours. Results     TaClo induced dopaminergic neuronal loss. TaClo induced 40% of neuronal loss at 50μmol/L, and about 90% at 200μmol/L(P<0.01, P<0.001). Under the same experimental condition, TaClo induced dopaminergic neuronal loss in a dose-dependent manner from 50μmol/L to 200μmol/L(P<0.001). Within one hour and twenty-four hours challenged with TaClo, cleaved caspase-3 was both increased in TaClo groups (50 and 200μmol/L), and activity of caspase-3 seemed to be increased in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion     TaClo induces dopaminergic neuronal apoptosis. The mechanism is that caspase-3 is activated by TaClo stimuli in dopaminergic neurons.

Key words: Dopaminergic neuron; In vitro; TaClo; Caspase-3; Apoptois