title: Taurine increases hippocampal neurogenesis in aging mice.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: eliasgeorges.gebara@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gebara
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: florian.udry@fa2.ch.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Udry
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: sebastien.sultan@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sultan
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 9 rue du Bugnon, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Nicolas.toni@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toni
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013654:Taurine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine