title: Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells increase dopamine synthesis in the injured striatum.
abstract: Previous studies showed that tyrosine hydroxylase or neurturin gene-modified cells transplanted into rats with Parkinson's disease significantly improved behavior and increased striatal dopamine content. In the present study, we transplanted tyrosine hydroxylase and neurturin gene-modified bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the damaged striatum of Parkinson's disease model rats. Several weeks after cell transplantation, in addition to an improvement of motor function, tyrosine hydroxylase and neurturin proteins were up-regulated in the injured striatum, and importantly, levels of dopamine and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid increased significantly. Furthermore, the density of the D2 dopamine receptor in the postsynaptic membranes of dopaminergic neurons was decreased. These results indicate that transplantation of tyrosine hydroxylase and neurturin gene-modified bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells increases dopamine synthesis and significantly improves the behavior of rats with Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450004, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jiewen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450004, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: Parkinson’s disease; bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells; dopamine; gene therapy; neural; neurodegenerative disease; neurturin; regeneration; transplantation; tyrosine hydroxylase