Oleic acid synthesized by stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD-1) in the lateral periventricular zone of the developing rat brain mediates neuronal growth, migration and the arrangement of prospective synapses.

Our previous work has shown that oleic acid synthesized by astrocytes in response to serum albumin behaves as a neurotrophic factor in neurons, upregulating the expression of GAP-43 and MAP-2 proteins, which are respectively markers of axonal and dendrite growth. In addition, oleic acid promoted neuron migration and aggregation, resulting in clusters of neurons connected each other by the newly formed neurites. In this work we show that the presence of albumin or albumin plus oleic acid increases neuron migration in cultured explants of the lateral periventricular zone, resulting in an increase in the number of GAP-43-positive neurons leaving the explant.

Albumin-blunted deleterious effect of amyloid-beta by preventing the internalization of the peptide into neurons.

Amyloid-beta (A beta) is the main component of senile plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Our results showed that A beta(25-35) decreased neuronal viability while it increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Under these circumstances, albumin (BSA) prevented ROS production and neuronal death in a dose- and time-dependent manner.