title: Activation of microglia induces symptoms of Parkinson's disease in wild-type, but not in IL-1 knockout mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by selective loss of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra (SN) to the striatum. The initial factor that triggers neurodegeneration is unknown; however, inflammation has been demonstrated to be significantly involved in the progression of PD. The present study was designed to investigate the role of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the activation of microglia and the decline of motor function using IL-1 knockout (KO) mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was stereotaxically injected into the SN of mice brains as a single dose or a daily dose for 5 days (5 mg/2 ml/injection, bilaterally). Animal behavior was assessed with the rotarod test at 2 hr and 8, 15 and 22 days after the final LPS injection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  LPS treatment induced the activation of microglia, as demonstrated by production of IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α as well as a change in microglial morphology. The number of cells immunoreactive for 4-hydroxynonenal (4HNE) and nitrotyrosine (NT), which are markers for oxidative insults, increased in the SN, and impairment of motor function was observed after the subacute LPS treatment. Cell death and aggregation of α-synuclein were observed 21 and 30 days after the final LPS injection, respectively. Behavioral deficits were observed in wild-type and TNFα KO mice, but IL-1 KO mice behaved normally. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression was attenuated by LPS treatment in wild-type and TNFα KO mice but not in IL-1 KO mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The subacute injection of LPS into the SN induces PD-like pathogenesis and symptoms in mice that mimic the progressive changes of PD including the aggregation of α-synuclein. LPS-induced dysfunction of motor performance was accompanied by the reduced gene expression of TH. These findings suggest that activation of microglia by LPS causes functional changes such as dopaminergic neuron attenuation in an IL-1-dependent manner, resulting in PD-like behavioral impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, Division of Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Showa University, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan. stanaka@pharm.showa-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohtaki
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shioda
authors.forename: Takemi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Numazawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D017628:Microglia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides