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Rizzi N, Brunialti E, Cerri S, Cermisoni G, Levandis G, Cesari N, Maggi A, Blandini F, Ciana P. In vivo imaging of early signs of dopaminergic neuronal death in an animal model of Parkinson's disease. Neurobiol Dis 2018; 114:74-84. [PMID: 29486298 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2018.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Revised: 02/02/2018] [Accepted: 02/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The Parkinson's disease (PD) evolves over an extended period of time with the onset occurring long before clinical signs begin to manifest. Characterization of the molecular events underlying the PD onset is instrumental for the development of diagnostic markers and preventive treatments, progress in this field is hindered by technical limitations. We applied an imaging approach to demonstrate the activation of Nrf2 transcription factor as a hallmark of neurodegeneration in neurotoxin-driven models of PD. In dopaminergic SK-N-BE neuroblastoma cells, Nrf2 activation was detected in cells committed to die as proven by time lapse microscopy; in the substantia nigra pars compacta area of the mouse brain, the Nrf2 activation preceded dopaminergic neurodegeneration as demonstrated by in vivo and ex vivo optical imaging, a finding confirmed by co-localization experiments carried out by immunohistochemistry. Collectively, our results identify the Nrf2 signaling as an early marker of neurodegeneration, anticipating dopaminergic neurodegeneration and motor deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicoletta Rizzi
- Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Electra Brunialti
- Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Silvia Cerri
- Laboratory of Functional Neurochemistry, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, via Mondino 2, 27100 Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Greta Cermisoni
- Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Giovanna Levandis
- Laboratory of Functional Neurochemistry, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, via Mondino 2, 27100 Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Nicoletta Cesari
- Centro Clinico-Veterinario e Zootecnico-Sperimentale d'Ateneo, University of Milan, Via dell'Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy
| | - Adriana Maggi
- Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Fabio Blandini
- Laboratory of Functional Neurochemistry, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, via Mondino 2, 27100 Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Paolo Ciana
- Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italy.
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