title: Participation of par-4 in the degeneration of striatal neurons induced by metabolic compromise with 3-nitropropionic acid.
abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by chorea, psychiatric disturbances, and dementia. It is caused by a polyglutamine repeat expansion in the huntingtin protein. The striatum is a major site of neuronal loss in HD, but the mechanisms underlying the neurodegenerative process have not been established. Systemic administration of the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor 3-nitropropionic acid (3NP) to rodents results in motor dysfunction and degeneration of striatal neurons with features similar to those of HD. Here we report that levels of prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4; a protein recently linked to neuronal apoptosis) increase in striatum, and to a lesser extent in cortex and hippocampus, after systemic administration of 3NP to adult rats. The increase in Par-4 levels occurred within 6 h of 3NP administration and was followed by an increase in caspase activation which preceded neuronal loss. Exposure of cultured primary striatal neurons to 3NP induced a rapid increase of Par-4 levels and caspase activation. Treatment of striatal neurons with a Par-4 antisense oligonucleotide blocked Par-4 induction by 3NP, suppressed caspase activation, and attenuated neuronal apoptosis. The caspase-3 inhibitor DEVD suppressed 3NP-induced apoptosis of striatal neurons, but did not prevent induction of Par-4, indicating that Par-4 acts upstream of caspase-3 activation in the cell death pathway. Our results suggest that Par-4 plays an important role in the degeneration of striatal neurons in an experimental model of HD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, Lexington, Kentucky 40536, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Mattson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008297:Male; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009574:Nitro Compounds; D011422:Propionates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009498:Neurotoxins; D009574:Nitro Compounds; D011422:Propionates; C101296:prostate apoptosis response-4 protein; D020169:Caspases; C015392:3-nitropropionic acid