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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1-2
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-8-7
pubmed:abstractText
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the appearance of intracytoplasmic inclusions called Lewy bodies (LB) in dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra and the progressive loss of these neurons. Recently, mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene have been identified in early-onset familial PD, and alpha-synuclein has been shown to be a major component of LB in all patients. Yet, the pathophysiological function of alpha-synuclein remains unknown. In this report, we have investigated the toxic effects of adenovirus-mediated alpha-synuclein overexpression on dopamine neurons in rat primary mesencephalic cultures and in a rat dopaminergic cell line - the large T-antigen immortalized, mesencephalon-derived 1RB3AN27 (N27). Adenovirus-transduced cultures showed high-level expression of alpha-synuclein within the cells. Overexpression of human mutant alpha-synuclein (Ala(53)Thr) selectively induced apoptotic programmed cell death of primary dopamine neurons as well as N27 cells. The mutant protein also potentiated the neurotoxicity of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). By contrast, overexpression of wild-type human alpha-synuclein was not directly neurotoxic but did increase cell death after 6-OHDA. Overexpression of wild-type rat alpha-synuclein had no effect on dopamine cell survival or 6-OHDA neurotoxicity. These results indicate that overexpression of human mutant alpha-synuclein directly leads to dopamine neuron death, and overexpression of either human mutant or human wild-type alpha-synuclein renders dopamine neurons more vulnerable to neurotoxic insults.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0006-8993
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
2
pubmed:volume
866
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
33-43
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Overexpression of human alpha-synuclein causes dopamine neuron death in rat primary culture and immortalized mesencephalon-derived cells.
pubmed:affiliation
Division of Clinical Pharmacology C-237, Department of Medicine, and the Neuroscience Program, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Denver, CO 80262, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.