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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are the main causes of age-related dementia. These diseases can be due to neuronal cell death and/or impairment of neurite outgrowth. Giant oyster mushroom (GOM), Pleurotus giganteus, is used as a nootropic to improve cognitive function. GOM can also be used to prevent the onset of dementia. The underlying mechanism behind the medicinal property of GOM is unclear. Previous studies have shown that GOM has a high concentration of uridine. In this study, I examined the effects of uridine on neurite outgrowth in the Neuro-2a (N2a) neuroblastoma cell line. We also examined the effects of various concentrations of uridine on neurite outgrowth in N2a cells. When exposed to uridine, N2a cells produced significantly longer neurite extensions (p<0.001) and exhibited a significant increase in neurite-bearing cells (p<0.001) with an ideal concentration of 100 μM. Our results suggest that uridine significantly promoted neurite outgrowth in N2a cells (p<0.001). Future studies are required to identify the mechanism behind uridines therapeutic potential on neurodegenerative diseases.
Recommended Citation
Spathies, Jacquelyn, "Uridine Promotes Neurite Outgrowth in Neuro2a Cells" (2019). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 138.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/honors_theses/138
