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The acute effects of acrylamide on astrocyte functions
Michael Aschner1, Cheng-Chen Cao, Qi Wu
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. maschner@wfubmc.edu
Abstract:
We assessed biochemical endpoints indicative of acute toxicity in neonatal rat primary astrocyte cultures exposed to acrylamide. Metallothionein (MT), glutamine synthetase (GS), glutamate/aspartate transporter (GLAST), and taurine transporter (tau-T) mRNA expression levels as well as cell volume were determined in astrocytes acutely treated with 0.1 and 1.0 mM acrylamide. Statistically significant changes in acrylamide treated astrocytes were noted for GS (0.1 mM) and GLAST (1.0 mM) mRNA expression levels. All other measurements were insignificant in comparison with controls, suggesting that astrocytic function is minimally compromised even at exceedingly high levels of acute acrylamide exposure.