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Froud, K. E.; Wardhaugh, T.; Stewart, M. G.; Banks, D. and Saffrey, M. J.
(2006).
Abstract
Colostrinin(TM) (CLN) is an 18KDa polypeptide originally isolated from ovine colostrums in early milk. The polypeptide was initially of interest because of its effects on the immune response which include inducing B lymphocyte differentiation [1] and increasing skin permeability [2]. CLN has also been found to be a modest cytokine inducer with psycho-stimulatory effects [3]. The effects of CLN in Alzheimer’s disease patients were therefore examined, and the polypeptide was found to delay disease progression as assessed by cognitive tests [4]. In addition, CLN has been found to improve spatial memory in rats [5].
The aim of this project is to elucidate the mechanism/s that may lead to these beneficial effects of CLN in the nervous system. Two primary cell culture preparations are being used; dissociated cultures of enteric ganglia and hippocampus. Initially cultures of enteric ganglia from P7 rat were used in order to investigate any beneficial effect of CLN on neuronal survival in culture. A range of CLN concentrations were tested (1 ng/ml-20 microg/ml) with 4-6 replicates for each condition. Neuronal survival was quantified by counting neurons immunolabelled with an antiserum against the neuronal marker PGP-9.5. Preliminary results from these experiments (n=2) suggest that at fairly high concentrations (20 microg/ml) CLN appears to have a beneficial effect on the survival of enteric neurons in culture. The project is now focused on investigating possible protective effects of CLN against beta-amyloid toxicity on hippocampal cells in culture.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
