title: Sonic hedgehog delivered by an adeno-associated virus protects dopaminergic neurones against 6-OHDA toxicity in the rat.
abstract: Direct intracerebral administration of sonic hedgehog (SHH) reduces 6-OHDA and MPTP toxicity to nigral dopaminergic cells in rats and primates. To determine whether transfection of the DNA sequence for SHH using viral vectors also protects against 6-OHDA toxicity, a type 2 adeno- associated virus (AAV) incorporating 600 base pairs of N-terminal SHH DNA was generated to induce SHH expression in rat striatum.AAV-SHH was injected into the striatum, 3 weeks prior to the initiation of an unilateral partial 6-OHDA nigro-striatal lesion. Animals receiving 4x10(7) viral particles of AAV-SHH showed a reduction in (+)-amphetamine induced ipsilateral turning over 4 weeks, when compared to animals receiving vehicle or a LacZ encoding vector. Following vehicle or AAV-LacZ administration, 6-OHDA caused a marked loss of striatal dopamine content and nigral tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunopositive cells. Following treatment with 4x10(7) viral particles of AAV-SHH the loss of striatal dopamine content was reduced and there was marked preservation of nigral dopaminergic cells. However, administration of 4x10(8) particles of AAV-SHH did not cause a significant change in (+)-amphetamine-induced rotation, striatal dopamine levels or the number of nigral TH immunoreactive cells following 6-OHDA lesioning compared to vehicle or AAV-LacZ treated animals. The results show that SHH delivered via a viral vector can protect dopaminergic neurons against 6-OHDA toxicity and suggest that this could be developed into a novel treatment for PD. However, the effects maybe dose limited due to uncoupling of hedgehog receptor signalling at higher levels of SHH expression.
authors.affiliation: Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Centre, GKT School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dass
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Iravani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barsoum
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Engber
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galdes
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jenner
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D018663:Adrenergic Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000633:toxicity*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014162:Transfection; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018663:Adrenergic Agents; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C509239:SHH protein, human; D015534:Trans-Activators; D016627:Oxidopamine; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine