Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Stefanis, Leonidas
• Kholodilov, Nikolai
• Rideout, Hardy J.
• Burke, Robert E.
• Greene, Lloyd A.

Titel

Synuclein‐1 is selectively up‐regulated in response to nerve growth factor treatment in PC12 cells

Ist Teil von

• Journal of neurochemistry, 2001-02, Vol.76 (4), p.1165-1176

Ort / Verlag

Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2001

Quelle

Access via Wiley Online Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Mutations in the α‐synuclein gene have recently been identified in families with inherited Parkinson's disease and the protein product of this gene is a component of Lewy bodies, indicating that α‐synuclein is involved in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis. A role for normal α‐synuclein in synaptic function, apoptosis or plasticity responses has been suggested. We show here that in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells synuclein‐1, the rat homolog of human α‐synuclein, is highly and selectively up‐regulated at the mRNA and protein levels after 7 days of nerve growth factor treatment. Synuclein‐1 expression appears neither sufficient nor necessary for the neuritic sprouting that occurs within 1–2 days of nerve growth factor treatment. Rather, it likely represents a component of a late neuronal maturational response. Synuclein‐1 redistributes diffusely within the cell soma and the neuritic processes in nerve growth factor‐treated PC12 cells. Cultured neonatal rat sympathetic neurones express high levels of synuclein‐1, with a diffuse intracellular distribution, similar to neuronal PC12 cells. These results suggest that levels of synuclein‐1 may be regulated by neurotrophic factors in the nervous system and reinforce a role for α‐synuclein in plasticity‐maturational responses. In contrast, there is no correlation between synuclein expression and apoptotic death following trophic deprivation.