太赫兹辐射对小鼠脑神经发生及认知能力的影响

Effect of terahertz radiation on brain neurogenesis and cognitive ability in mouse

摘要:

为探究太赫兹(THz)辐射对成年小鼠海马齿状回亚颗粒区(SGZ)神经发生及对老年小鼠认知能力的影响，用0.14 THz波照射实验小鼠头部，10 min/次，2次/d，连续21 d，对照组小鼠进行相同时间的麻醉。采用5-溴脱氧尿嘧啶核苷(BrdU)染色评价新生细胞存活、BrdU/神经元细胞核(NeuN)染色评价细胞分化、Morris水迷宫(MWM)实验分析认知能力变化。实验结果表明：与对照组相比，0.14 THz 10 min/次，2次/d，连续照射21 d后，可有效促进成年小鼠SGZ神经发生，成年小鼠SGZ新生细胞存活明显改善(P<0.05)，新生细胞向神经元的分化无明显改变。老年小鼠逃避潜伏期，运动寻找轨迹无显著变化，THz辐射没有影响老年小鼠的空间认知能力。

Abstract:

To explore the effect of Terahertz(THz) on neurogenesis in the Subgranular Zone(SGZ) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus of adult mouse and the cognitive ability of elderly mouse, the heads of mice in THz group are irradiated with THz radiation for 10 min/time, 2 times/d, for 21 days. The mice in the control group are anesthetized for the same time. 5-Bromodeoxyuridine(BrdU) staining is utilized to evaluate the survival of newborn cells. BrdU/Neuron nucleus(NeuN) staining is adopted to evaluate cell differentiation. The Morris Water Maze(MWM) experiment is employed to analyze the changes in cognitive ability. Results indicate that 0.14 THz radiation for 10 min/time, twice/d, for 21 days can effectively promote SGZ neurogenesis in adult mouse without affecting the differentiation of newborn cells into neurons compared with the control group, and the survival of SGZ newborn cells in adult mouse is significantly improved(P<0.05), while the differentiation of newborn cells into neurons is not significantly changed. There are no significant changes in the escape latency and the locus of movement in the elderly mouse. It is concluded that THz irradiation does not affect the spatial cognitive ability of old mouse.