Neuroprotective peptide ADNF-9 in fetal brain of C57BL/6 mice exposed prenatally to alcohol

Background: a derived peptide from activity-dependent neurotrophic factor (adnf-9) has been shown to be neuroprotective in the fetal alcohol exposure model. we investigated the neuroprotective effects of adnf-9 against alcohol-induced apoptosis using tunel staining. we further characterize in this study the proteomic architecture underlying the role of adnf-9 against ethanol teratogenesis during early fetal brain development using liquid chromatography in conjunction with tandem mass spectrometry (lc-ms/ms). methods. pregnant c57bl/6 mice were exposed from embryonic days 7-13 (e7-e13) to a 25% ethanol-derived calorie [25% edc,alcohol (alc)] diet,a 25% edc diet simultaneously administered i.p. adnf-9 (alc/adnf-9),or a pair-fed (pf) liquid diet. at e13,fetal brains were collected from 5 dams from each group,weighed,and frozen for lc-ms/ms procedure. other fetal brains were fixed for tunel staining. results: administration of adnf-9 prevented alcohol-induced reduction in fetal brain weight and alcohol-induced increases in cell death. moreover,individual fetal brains were analyzed by lc-ms/ms. statistical differences in the amounts of proteins between the alc and alc/adnf-9 groups resulted in a distinct data-clustering. significant upregulation of several important proteins involved in brain development were found in the alc/adnf-9 group as compared to the alc group. conclusion: these findings provide information on potential mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effects of adnf-9 in the fetal alcohol exposure model. © 2011 sari et al; licensee biomed central ltd.