Temporal changes in the neurotrophic environment of the denervated striatum as determined by the survival and outgrowth of grafted fetal dopamine neurons

Sleep deprivation disrupts striatal anti-apoptotic responses in 6-hydroxy dopamine-lesioned parkinsonian rats

Objective(s):

The present study was conducted to examine the effect of sleep deprivation (SD) on the anti-apoptotic pathways in Parkinsonian rats.

Materials and Methods:

Male Wistar rats (n = 40) were assigned to four groups (10 animals each): sham surgery (Sham), 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned (OH), 6-OHDA-lesioned plus grid control (OH+GC), 6-OHDA-lesioned plus SD (OH+SD). Parkinson’s disease (PD) model was induced by the unilateral intra-striatal infusion of 6-OHDA (10 µg/rat). SD (4 hr/day, for 14 days) was induced using a multiple platforms water tank. On the last day of interventions, animals were subjected to open field test for horizontal motor performance assessment. Also, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Bcl-2 and Bax were assessed in the striatum of study groups.

Results:

SD obscured the motor deficits of PD animals observed in open field test. BDNF level and Bcl2/Bax ratio significantly increased in the OH group, and SD reduced their levels in the PD animals.

Conclusion:

SD suppressed the anti-apoptotic compensatory responses in the striatum; therefore, it may accelerate continual neuronal cell death in PD.

Comparison of Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Dopamine Neuron Grafts and Fetal Ventral Mesencephalic Tissue Grafts: Morphology and Function

In this study we compared the function and morphology of two types of neural grafts: allografts of fetal ventral mesencephalic (VM) tissue and xenografts of embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived dopamine neurons. Mouse embryonic stem cells were cultured and exposed to differentiation factors that induced approximately 10% of the cells to express a dopaminergic phenotype. These cells were then harvested and implanted into the denervated striatum of rats with unilateral lesions of the nigrostriatal pathway. Another group of lesioned rats received allografts of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue. While both types of grafts yield a similar number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive cells, amphetamine-induced rotational behavior was differentially affected by these grafts: rotational behavior was significantly reduced in lesioned rats receiving allografts of fetal VM tissue while ESC grafts had slight but insignificant effects on rotational scores. Densitometry measures of TH+ fiber outgrowth revealed a similar area of reinnervation and a comparable number of TH+ cells for ESC graft when compared with VM grafts. These data suggest there are similarities and also distinct differences in the manner in which ESC and VM grafts interact with the denervated striatum.

Positive autoregulation of GDNF levels in the ventral tegmental area mediates long-lasting inhibition of excessive alcohol consumption

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is an essential growth factor for the survival and maintenance of the midbrain dopaminergic (DA-ergic) neurons. Activation of the GDNF pathway in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), where the GDNF receptors are expressed, produces a long-lasting suppression of excessive alcohol consumption in rats. Previous studies conducted in the DA-ergic-like cells, SHSY5Y, revealed that GDNF positively regulates its own expression, leading to a long-lasting activation of the GDNF signaling pathway. Here we determined whether GDNF activates a positive autoregulatory feedback loop in vivo within the VTA, and if so, whether this mechanism underlies the long-lasting suppressive effects of the growth factor on excessive alcohol consumption. We found that a single infusion of recombinant GDNF (rGDNF; 10 μg) into the VTA induces a long-lasting local increase in GDNF mRNA and protein levels, which depends upon de novo transcription and translation of the polypeptide. Importantly, we report that the GDNF-mediated positive autoregulatory feedback loop accounts for the long-lasting inhibitory actions of GDNF in the VTA on excessive alcohol consumption. Specifically, the long-lasting suppressive effects of a single rGDNF infusion into the VTA on excessive alcohol consumption were prevented when protein synthesis was inhibited, as well as when the upregulation of GDNF expression was prevented using short hairpin RNA to focally knock down GDNF mRNA in the VTA. Our results could have implications for the development of long-lasting treatments for disorders in which GDNF has a beneficial role, including drug addiction, chronic stress and Parkinson's disease.

Driving GDNF expression: the green and the red traffic lights

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is widely recognized as a potent survival factor for dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway that degenerate in Parkinson's disease (PD). In animal models of PD, GDNF delivery to the striatum or the substantia nigra protects dopaminergic neurons against subsequent toxin-induced injury and rescues previously damaged neurons, promoting recovery of the motor function. Thus, GDNF was proposed as a potential therapy to PD aimed at slowing down, halting or reversing neurodegeneration, an issue addressed in previous reviews. However, the use of GDNF as a therapeutic agent for PD is hampered by the difficulty in delivering it to the brain. Another potential strategy is to stimulate the endogenous expression of GDNF, but in order to do that we need to understand how GDNF expression is regulated. The aim of this review is to do a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art on the control of endogenous GDNF expression in the nervous system, focusing mainly on the nigrostriatal pathway. We address the control of GDNF expression during development, in the adult brain and after injury, and how damaged neurons signal glial cells to up-regulate GDNF. Pharmacological agents or natural molecules that increase GDNF expression and show neuroprotective activity in animal models of PD are reviewed. We also provide an integrated overview of the signalling pathways linking receptors for these molecules to the induction of GDNF gene, which might also become targets for neuroprotective therapies in PD.

Pharmacologically active microcarriers releasing glial cell line – derived neurotrophic factor: Survival and differentiation of embryonic dopaminergic neurons after grafting in hemiparkinsonian rats

To improve the outcome of foetal dopaminergic cell transplantation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, pharmacologically active microcarriers (PAM) were developed. PAM are able to convey cells on their surface and release a growth factor to improve cell survival, differentiation and integration after brain implantation. Lysozyme-releasing PAM were first produced and characterized. They served as a model system for the development of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)-releasing PAM conveying foetal ventral mesencephalic (FVM) cells. The effects of the intrastriatal implantation of this system were studied in hemiparkinsonian rats during a 6-week period. This study reports on the degradation of coated and non-coated PAM and the release of lysozyme and of biologically active GDNF for 42 days. Unloaded and GDNF-loaded PAM conveying FVM cells allowed a high improvement of the grafted cell survival and of fibre outgrowth, when compared to the cells transplanted alone. The animals receiving the PAM showed an earlier improvement in amphetamine-induced rotational behaviour compared to animals receiving FVM cells only; behaviour that appears to be more regular and stable with the GDNF-releasing PAM. The use of PAM to convey foetal cells is thus an efficient strategy for cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases, as it allows improvement of cell survival and fibre outgrowth inducing a rapid recovery of behaviour using only low amounts of cells.

Cell therapy in Parkinson's disease

The clinical studies with intrastriatal transplants of fetal mesencephalic tissue in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients have provided proof-of-principle for the cell replacement strategy in this disorder. The grafted dopaminergic neurons can reinnervate the denervated striatum, restore regulated dopamine (DA) release and movement-related frontal cortical activation, and give rise to significant symptomatic relief. In the most successful cases, patients have been able to withdraw L-dopa treatment after transplantation and resume an independent life. However, there are currently several problems linked to the use of fetal tissue: 1) lack of sufficient amounts of tissue for transplantation in a large number of patients, 2) variability of functional outcome with some patients showing major improvement and others modest if any clinical benefit, and 3) occurrence of troublesome dyskinesias in a significant proportion of patients after transplantation. Thus, neural transplantation is still at an experimental stage in PD. For the development of a clinically useful cell therapy, we need to define better criteria for patient selection and how graft placement should be optimized in each patient. We also need to explore in more detail the importance for functional outcome of the dissection and cellular composition of the graft tissue as well as of immunological mechanisms. Strategies to prevent the development of dyskinesias after grafting have to be developed. Finally, we need to generate large numbers of viable DA neurons in preparations that are standardized and quality controlled. The stem cell technology may provide a virtually unlimited source of DA neurons, but several scientific issues need to be addressed before stem cell-based therapies can be tested in PD patients.

Fetal hippocampal CA3 cell grafts enriched with FGF-2 and BDNF exhibit robust long-term survival and integration and suppress aberrant mossy fiber sprouting in the injured middle-aged hippocampus

Cell transplants that successfully replace the lost neurons and facilitate the reconstruction of the disrupted circuitry in the injured aging hippocampus are invaluable for treating acute head injury, stroke and status epilepticus in the elderly. This is because apt graft integration has the potential to prevent the progression of the acute injury into chronic epilepsy in the elderly. However, neural transplants into the injured middle-aged or aged hippocampus exhibit poor cell survival, suggesting that apt graft augmentation strategies are critical for robust integration of grafted cells into the injured aging hippocampus. We examined the efficacy of pre-treatment and grafting of donor fetal CA3 cells with a blend of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) for lasting survival and integration of grafted cells in the injured middle-aged (12 months old) hippocampus of F344 rats. Grafts were placed at 4 days after the kainic-acid-induced hippocampal injury and were analyzed at 6 months post-grafting. We demonstrate that 80% of grafted cells exhibit prolonged survival and 71% of grafted cells differentiate into CA3 pyramidal neurons. Grafts also receive a robust afferent input from the host mossy fibers and project efferent axons into the denervated zones of the dentate gyrus and the CA1 subfield. Consequently, the aberrant sprouting of the dentate mossy fibers, an epileptogenic change that typically ensues after the hippocampal injury, was suppressed. Thus, grafts of fetal CA3 cells enriched with FGF-2 and BDNF exhibit robust integration and dampen the abnormal mossy fiber sprouting in the injured middle-aged hippocampus. Because the aberrantly sprouted mossy fibers contribute to the generation of seizures, the results suggest that the grafting intervention using FGF-2 and BDNF is efficacious for suppressing epileptogenesis in the injured middle-aged hippocampus.

Grafted swine neuroepithelial stem cells can form myelinated axons and both efferent and afferent synapses with xenogeneic rat neurons

Neuroepithelial stem cells derived from the swine mesencephalic neural tube were examined regarding their eligibility for neural xenografting as a donor material, with the aim of evaluating myelinated axon formation and both types of synaptic formation with xenogeneic host neurons as part of possible neural circuit reconstruction. The mesencephalic neural tube tissues were dissected out from swine embryos at embryonic days 17 and 18 and were implanted immediately into the striatum of the Parkinsonian model rat. The swine-derived grafts had many nestin-positive rosette-forming, neurofilament-positive, and tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells in the rat striatum. Electron microscopic study revealed both efferent and afferent synaptic formations in the donor-derived immature neurons or tyrosine hydroxylase-positive donor cells in the grafts. Myelinated axons, both positive and negative for swine-specific neurofilament antibody, were mingled together in the graft. These results indicated that implanted neuroepithelial stem cells could survive well and divide asymmetrically into both nestin-expressing precursors and differentiated neurochemical marker-expressing neurons in the xenogeneic rat striatum, with the help of an immunosuppressant. Donor-derived immature neurons formed both efferent and afferent synapses with xenogeneic host neurons, and donor-derived axons were myelinated, which suggests that implanted swine neuroepithelial stem cells could possibly restore damaged neuronal circuitry in the diseased brain.