Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector delivery of an Apaf-1-dominant negative inhibitor was tested for its antiapoptotic effect on degenerating nigrostriatal neurons in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of Parkinson's disease. The wild-type caspase recruitment domain of Apaf-1 was used as a dominant negative inhibitor of Apaf-1 (rAAV-Apaf-1-DN-EGFP). An AAV virus vector was used to deliver it into the striatum of C57 black mice, and the animals were treated with MPTP. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the substantia nigra was not changed on the rAAV-Apaf-1-DN-EGFP injected side compared with the noninjected side. We also examined the effect of a caspase 1 C285G mutant as a dominant negative inhibitor of caspase 1 (rAAV-caspase-1-DN-EGFP) in the same model. However, there was no difference in the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons between the rAAV-caspase-1-DN-EGFP injected side and the noninjected side. These results indicate that delivery of Apaf-1-DN by using an AAV vector system can prevent nigrostriatal degeneration in MPTP mice, suggesting that it could be a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with Parkinson's disease. The major mechanism of dopaminergic neuronal death triggered by MPTP seems to be the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.
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PMID:An AAV-derived Apaf-1 dominant negative inhibitor prevents MPTP toxicity as antiapoptotic gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. 1153 10

Apoptosis is an important mechanism of physiological and pathological cell death and is known to occur in various neurological disorders. Apoptosis is associated with activation of genetic programs in which apoptosis-effector genes promote cell death, thereby opposing repressor genes that enhance cell survival. In this review, we describe various apoptotic pathways, with a special reference to the caspase cascade and discuss the role of individual antiapoptotic factors in various target diseases. Apoptosis could be suppressed by in vivo gene delivery of antiapoptotic factors directly into the central nervous system. The adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector is a good candidate for such gene therapy because it can infect postmitotic neurons. We also describe our in vivo system for overexpression of apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (Apaf-1) caspase recruitment domain as an Apaf1-dominant negative inhibitor (Apaf-1-DN) to regulate the mitochondrial caspase cascade. Apaf-1-DN delivery using an AAV vector system inhibited mitochondrial apoptotic signaling pathway and prevented dopaminergic cell death in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Our results suggest that AAV-Apaf-1-DN is potentially useful as an antimitochondrial apoptotic gene therapy for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
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PMID:Adeno-associated virus-mediated antiapoptotic gene delivery: in vivo gene therapy for neurological disorders. 1241 23

The 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model constitutes the best-characterized toxin paradigm for Parkinson's disease, faithfully replicating most of its clinical and pathological hallmarks. Many lines of evidence point to a significant contribution of apoptosis to cell death after application of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)) in cell culture or MPTP in vivo. This holds true for apoptotic DNA strand breaks, activation of the JNK pathway and caspases, induction of Par-4 protein and the protection conferred by interference with p53, Apaf-1 or Bax signalling. In MPTP models, intervention in upstream events of apoptosis, e.g. by inhibition of the JNK pathway, provides morphological and functional rescue. In contrast, inhibition of the propagation and execution phase of apoptosis, e.g. by inhibition of caspases, blocks or delays cell death but may not recover neuronal function. At this stage, the combination of an anti-apoptotic together with a neurorestorative therapy may be promising.
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PMID:Apoptotic mechanisms and antiapoptotic therapy in the MPTP model of Parkinson's disease. 1262 49

We review recent progress in gene therapy utilizing experimental parkinsonian models including our data. Investigation of ex vivo gene therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) is to provide L-dopa by transplantation of genetically modified cells into the striatum. Recently, neuronal progenitor cells (NPC) are recognized as the most appropriate target population for such genetic and cellular therapy of PD. We have developed modified pseudo-typed retrovirus production system. Using this gene transfer system, it is easy and efficient to introduce the gene into NPC because high titer virus vector is easily obtained. For the in vivo gene therapy, adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector is best virus vector because it is easy to introduce gene into neurons without inflammatory reaction. We established in vivo models of the inhibition of the caspase-cascade by overexpression of apoptotic protease activating factor-1-dominant negative inhibitor (Apaf-1-DN) using AAV vector. We showed that Apaf-1-DN delivery using an AAV vector system could prevent nigrostriatal degeneration in MPTP mice, suggesting that it might be an anti-mitochondrial apoptotic gene therapy for PD.
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PMID:Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. 1294 58

The present study was designed to elucidate the inflammatory and apoptotic mechanisms of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced neurotoxicity in a model of Parkinson's disease. Our results showed that mutant mice lacking the caspase-11 gene were significantly more resistant to the effects of acute treatment with MPTP than their wild-type mice. Thus, the neurotoxicity of MPTP seems to be mediated by the induction of both mitochondrial dysfunction and free radical generation. Previously, we showed that overexpression of the Apaf-1 dominant-negative inhibitor inhibited the mitochondrial apoptotic cascade in chronic MPTP treatment but not in acute MPTP treatment. The present results indicate that MPTP neurotoxicity may be mediated via activation of the caspase-11 cascade and inflammatory cascade, as well as the mitochondrial apoptotic cascade.
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PMID:Caspase-11 mediates inflammatory dopaminergic cell death in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model of Parkinson's disease. 1498 26

Mammalian homologues of the Drosophila canonical transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins have been implicated to function as plasma membrane Ca(2+) channels. This study examined the role of TRPC1 in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells. SH-SY5Y cells treated with an exogenous neurotoxin, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP(+)) significantly decreased TRPC1 protein levels. Confocal microscopy on SH-SY5Y cells treatment with MPP(+) showed decreased plasma membrane staining of TRPC1. Importantly, overexpression of TRPC1 reduced neurotoxicity induced by MPP(+). MPP(+)-induced alpha-synuclein expression was also suppressed by TRPC1 overexpression. Protection of SH-SY5Y cells against MPP(+) was significantly decreased upon the overexpression of antisense TRPC1 cDNA construct or the addition of a nonspecific transient receptor potential channel blocker lanthanum. Activation of TRPC1 by thapsigargin or carbachol decreased MPP(+) neurotoxicity, which was partially dependent on external Ca(2+). Staining of SH-SY5Y cells with an apoptotic marker (YO-PRO-1) showed that TRPC1 protects SH-SY5Y neuronal cells against apoptosis. Further, TRPC1 overexpression inhibited cytochrome c release and decreased Bax and Apaf-1 protein levels. Interpretation of the above data suggests that reduction in the cell surface expression of TRPC1 following MPP(+) treatment may be involved in dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Furthermore, TRPC1 may inhibit degenerative apoptotic signaling to provide neuroprotection against Parkinson's disease-inducing agents.
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PMID:TRPC1-mediated inhibition of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion neurotoxicity in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. 1554 11

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a good target for gene therapy because the lesion is localized to the substantia nigra (SN). There are several approaches in gene therapy for PD. For enhancing dopamine production, the candidate genes are tyrosine hydroxylase, AADC and/or GTP cyclohydroxylase I. The second approach is a neuroprotective strategy, which is based on the usage of genes for neurotophic factors or anti-apoptotic agents. We also showed that Apaf-1-dominant negative inhibitor delivery using an AAV vector system could prevent nigrostriatal degeneration in MPTP mice, suggesting that it might be an anti-mitochondrial apoptotic gene therapy for PD. In 2003, the first gene therapy trial for PD performed at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center. The treatment is designed to deliver glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the gene responsible for making GABA, into the subthalamic nucleus to "quiet down" that nucleus and alleviate Parkinson's symptoms. The last approach is replacement of disease for autosomal recessive PD. Because autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (ARJP) involves the loss of function of parkin gene, gene therapy employing the parkin gene may prevent nigral cell death.
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PMID:[Future of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease]. 1565 40

Parkinson's disease is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. These neurons are particularly sensitive to the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+), the active metabolite of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), which causes parkinsonian syndromes in humans, monkeys and rodents. Although apoptotic cell death has been implicated in MPTP/MPP+ toxicity, several recent studies have challenged the role of caspase-dependent apoptosis in dopaminergic neurons. Using the midbrain-derived MN9D dopaminergic cell line, we found that MPP+ treatment resulted in an active form of cell death that could not be prevented by caspase inhibitors or over-expression of a dominant negative inhibitor of apoptotic protease activating factor 1/caspase-9. Apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) is a mitochondrial protein that may mediate caspase-independent forms of regulated cell death following its translocation to the nucleus. We found that MPP+ treatment elicited nuclear translocation of AIF accompanied by large-scale DNA fragmentation. To establish the role of AIF in MPP+ toxicity, we constructed a DNA vector encoding a short hairpin sequence targeted against AIF. Reduction of AIF expression by RNA interference inhibited large-scale DNA fragmentation and conferred significant protection against MPP+ toxicity. Studies of primary mouse midbrain cultures further supported a role for AIF in caspase-independent cell death in MPP+-treated dopaminergic neurons.
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PMID:Apoptosis inducing factor mediates caspase-independent 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium toxicity in dopaminergic cells. 1615 40

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the selective death of dopaminergic neurons. To avoid inconvenience of frequent administration caused by short half life and recurrence of symptoms such as tremor and bradykinesia incurred by drug elimination, a novel long-acting pramipexole transdermal patch has been made. In the present study, we evaluated the neuroprotective effects and underlying mechanisms of pramipexole patch (PPX patch) in a subacute PD mouse model induced by 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The results showed that PPX patch treatment improved dyskinesia. MPTP-induced reduction of DA as well as its metabolites DOPAC and HVA in the striatum were prevented by PPX patch in a dose-dependent manner. PPX patch also restored the activity of antioxidant enzymes including SOD, GSH-Px and CAT in the striatum while reduced the content of MDA. Furthermore, PPX patch upregulated Nrf2/HO-1 expression. The protective effects of PPX patch was also associated with downregulation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and Apaf-1, inhibition of cytochrome c release and inactivation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. In conclusion, our studies demonstrated that the long-acting pramipexole patch exerts its neuroprotective effects, at least in part, by inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and holds promise as a candidate drug.
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PMID:Neuroprotective effects of pramipexole transdermal patch in the MPTP-induced mouse model of Parkinson's disease. 3024 83