Tetramethylpyrazine promotes proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells from rat brain in hypoxic condition via mitogen-activated protein kinases pathway in vitro

This study investigated the effects of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), an active element of traditional Chinese medicine Ligusticum Chuanxiong, on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) from rat brain in hypoxia condition and the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) signaling pathway during the processes. The results showed that TMP promoted the proliferation and differentiation of the NSCs into neurons. TMP increased the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and decreased the phosphorylation of p38 at different time points. ERK inhibitor (U0126) in part blocked the differentiation of the NSCs into neurons induced by TMP. Our findings demonstrated that TMP enhanced the proliferation and differentiation of NSCs of rat after hypoxia in vitro, in which the phosphorylation of ERK and p38 was involved.