Figure 2.

Astrocytes protect propofol-induced neuron death through conditioned medium. (A) Astrocytes cell number-dependently rescued the propofol-induced cell death in neurons when co-cultured with neurons. Neurons were co-cultured with two different densities of astrocytes (the ratios of astrocytes/neurons were either 1:1 or 1:9) in transwell plates that physically separated astrocytes from neurons. The co-culture was then exposed to 6 h of 30 μM propofol or DMSO as a control. Cell death was measured 12 h following propofol exposure and expressed as fold change of control. Co-cultured astrocytes with the higher ratio against neuron cell counts (1:1) but not with the lower ratio (1:9) attenuated the propofol-induced neuron death. n=5. *P<0.05. (B) Conditioned medium collected from the higher density of astrocytes attenuated the propofol-induced neuron death. Neurons were exposed to 6 h of 30 μM propofol in the presence or absence of astrocyte conditioned medium. Cell death was measured 12 h following propofol exposure and expressed as fold change of control. n=4. *P<0.05.