Alterations of second messenger systems in the rat brain after 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the medial forebrain bundle

Tamoxifen effect on L-DOPA induced response complications in parkinsonian rats and primates

The contribution of striatal protein kinase C (PKC) isoform changes in levodopa (L-DOPA) induced motor response complications in parkinsonian rats was investigated and the ability of tamoxifen, an antiestrogen with a partial PKC antagonist property, to prevent these response alterations in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesioned rats as well as in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) treated cynomologous monkeys was studied. Following treatment of adult male rats with L-DOPA twice daily for 3 weeks, protein levels of left (lesioned) and right (intact) striatal PKC isoforms were measured. Western blot analysis showed increased protein expression of both the novel PKC epsilon isoform and the atypical PKC lambda isoform ipsilateral to the lesion (174+/-17% for epsilon, 140+/-9% for lambda, of intact striatum in 6-OHDA lesioned plus chronic L-DOPA treated animals) in acute L-DOPA treated rats. No enhancement was observed in PKC immunoreactivity for other isoforms. Tamoxifen (5.0 mg/kg p.o.) significantly attenuated the L-DOPA induced augmentation of protein expression of PKC epsilon and PKC lambda, but had no effect on immunoreactivity for other PKC isoforms. In chronic L-DOPA treated parkinsonian rats, tamoxifen prevented (5.0 mg/kg p.o.) as well as ameliorated (5.0 mg/kg p.o.) the characteristic shortening in duration of motor response to L-DOPA challenge. In MPTP lesioned primates, similar to the ameliorative effect seen in rats, tamoxifen (1 and 3 mg/kg p.o) reduced the appearance of L-DOPA induced dyskinesia by 61% and 55% respectively (p<0.05). These results suggest that changes in specific striatal PKC isoforms contribute to the pathogenesis of L-DOPA induced motor complications and further that drugs able to selectively inhibit these signaling kinases might provide adjunctive benefit in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Altered expression of regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) mRNAs in the striatum of rats undergoing dopamine depletion

Quantitative in situ hybridization was used to investigate the effect of prolonged striatal dopamine or monoamine depletion on the mRNA density of regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) 2-12 proteins. Two types of treatments were studied: a 6-hydroxydopamine-induced unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway and a 5-day reserpine treatment. The results clearly show a selective increase in the mRNA levels of RGS2, 5 and 8 and a decrease in RGS4 and 9 mRNA levels following nigrostriatal denervation. In this model, we observed no change in the mRNA levels of RGS10 and other RGS proteins that are weakly expressed in the striatum (RGS3, 6, 7, 11 and 12). On the other hand, the mRNA levels RGS2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 were found to be significantly decreased after prolonged reserpine treatment. In contrast, the densities of these transcripts (in particular, RGS2, 4 and 10) tend to increase after an acute administration of reserpine, used as control. These results provide further evidence for the influence of dopamine and/or other monoamines in the regulation of RGS protein expression in the striatum. In connection with the previously documented acute regulation of RGS proteins after modulation of the dopaminergic transmission [Geurts et al., Neurosci Lett 2002;333:146-50], the present study demonstrates that alteration in their genetic expression can be long-lasting and this could reflect the adaptation processes that occur in certain pathological states, such as Parkinson's disease.