Thursday, April 29, 2021

Reports related to neurodegenerative diseases use Drosophila as a test system

Aging Cell. 2021 Apr 28:e13365. doi: 10.1111/acel.13365. Online ahead of print.

Vesicular glutamate transporter modulates sex differences in dopamine neuron
vulnerability to age-related neurodegeneration.


Buck SA, Steinkellner T, Aslanoglou D, Villeneuve M, Bhatte SH, Childers VC), Rubin SA, De Miranda BR, O'Leary EI, Neureiter EG, Fogle KJ, Palladino MJ, Logan RW, Glausier JR, Fish KN, Lewis DA(2), Greenamyre JT, McCabe BD, Cheetham CEJ, Hnasko TS, Freyberg Z

Age is the greatest risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD) which causes progressive loss of dopamine (DA) neurons, with males at greater risk than females. Intriguingly, some DA neurons are more resilient to degeneration than others. Increasing evidence suggests that vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) expression in DA neurons plays a role in this selective vulnerability. We investigated the role of DA neuron VGLUT in sex- and age-related differences in DA neuron vulnerability using the genetically tractable Drosophila model. We found sex differences in age-related DA neurodegeneration and its associated locomotor behavior, where males exhibit significantly greater decreases in both DA neuron number and locomotion during aging compared with females. We discovered that dynamic changes in DA neuron VGLUT expression mediate these age- and sex-related differences, as a potential compensatory mechanism for diminished DA neurotransmission during aging. Importantly, female Drosophila possess higher levels of VGLUT expression in DA neurons compared with males, and this finding is conserved across flies, rodents, and humans. Moreover, we showed that diminishing VGLUT expression in DA neurons eliminates females' greater resilience to DA neuron loss across aging. This offers a new mechanism for sex differences in selective DA neuron vulnerability to age-related DA neurodegeneration. Finally, in mice, we showed that the ability of DA neurons to achieve optimal control over VGLUT expression is essential for DA neuron survival. These findings lay the groundwork for the manipulation of DA neuron VGLUT expression as a novel therapeutic strategy to boost DA neuron resilience to age- and PD-related neurodegeneration.

DOI: 10.1111/acel.13365
PMID: 33909313

 

Cell Death Dis. 2020 Sep 10;11(9):739. doi: 10.1038/s41419-020-02942-8.

Enhanced accumulation of reduced glutathione by Scopoletin improves
survivability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's model.


Pradhan P, Majhi O, Biswas A, Joshi VK, Sinha D

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neuromotor disorder, primarily manifested by motor anomalies due to progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. Although alterations in genetic factors have been linked with its etiology, exponential accumulation of environmental entities such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) initiate a cyclic chain reaction resulting in accumulation of cellular inclusions, dysfunctional mitochondria, and overwhelming of antioxidant machinery, thus accelerating disease pathogenesis. Involvement of oxidative stress in PD is further substantiated through ROS induced Parkinsonian models and elevated oxidative markers in clinical PD samples; thereby, making modulation of neuronal oxidative load as one of the major approaches in management of PD. Here we have found a potent antioxidant moiety Scopoletin (Sp), a common derivative in most of the nootropic herbs, with robust neuroprotective ability. Sp increased cellular resistance to ROS through efficient recycling of GSH to prevent oxidative damage. The Sp treated cells showed higher loads of reduced glutathione making them resistant to perturbation of antioxidant machinery or neurotoxin MPP+. Sp could restore the redox balance, mitochondrial function, and prevented oxidative damage, leading to recovery of dopaminergic neural networks and motion abilities in Drosophila genetic model of PD. Our data also suggest that Sp, in combination increases the therapeutic potency of L-DOPA by mitigating its chronic toxicity. Together, we highlight the possible ability of Sp in preventing oxidative stress mediated loss of dopaminergic neurons and at the same time enhance the efficacy of dopamine recharging regimens.

DOI: 10.1038/s41419-020-02942-8
PMCID: PMC7484898
PMID: 32913179

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