Daidzein induces neuritogenesis in DRG neuronal cultures

Background: daidzein,a phytoestrogen found in isoflavone,is known to exert neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects on the nervous system. using primary rat dorsal root ganglion (drg) neuronal cultures,we have examined the potential neurite outgrowth effect of daidzein. methods. dissociated dorsal root ganglia (drg) cultures were used to study the signaling mechanism of daidzein-induced neuritogenesis by immunocytochemistry and western blotting. results: in response to daidzein treatment,drg neurons showed a significant increase in total neurite length and in tip number per neuron. the neuritogenic effect of daidzein was significantly hampered by specific blockers for src,protein kinase c delta (pkc) and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinases (mek/erk),but not by those for estrogen receptor (er). moreover,daidzein induced phosphorylation of src,pkc and erk. the activation of pkc by daidzein was attenuated in the presence of a src kinase inhibitor,and that of erk by daidzein was diminished in the presence of either a src or pkc inhibitor. conclusion: daidzein may stimulate neurite outgrowth of drg neurons depending on src kinase,pkc and erk signaling pathway. © 2012 yang et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.