Selena Patel

Introduction.  Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and presence of alpha-synuclein (⍺S) aggregates forming intracellular inclusions^1,6. The pathogenesis of the selective loss of dopamine neurons and accumulation of alpha-synuclein remains unclear; however, recent evidence suggests the activation of PERK/ATF4 pathway within the unfolded protein response (UPR) by ER stress is a causative factor of PD resulting in neurodegeneration^4-6. Studies have found up-regulation of ATF4 will launch a pro-apoptotic death in dopamine neurons of the SNpc in rat models with Parkinson-like neurodegeneration induced by human alpha-synuclein overexpression². Methods.  Rat models were injected with the rAAV vector gene to express GFP, human wildtype alpha-synuclein, ATF4, or both alpha-synuclein and ATF4 simultaneously in the SNpc. Striatal and nigral tissues were dissected from the injected animal models at 4 and 8 weeks to be processed for immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Furthermore, levels of protein expression were quantified through western blot analysis and a caspase 3/7 activity assay was also performed from intact un-injected brains and rat models injected with ATF4 expressing virus. Results.  Increased ATF4 expression was observed in rAAV-ATF4 and rAAV-⍺S + ATF4 injected models. Significant findings also reveal a similar increase in ATF4 expression in animal models overexpressing only exogenous ⍺S, thus, results confirm ATF4 up-regulation is due to human ⍺S overexpression in the SNpc of rat models². Studies show ⍺S overexpression significantly reduced the percentage of TH-positive cells and dopamine neurons compared to control GFP models². Additionally, the co-expression of ATF4 and ⍺S did not decrease the loss of TH-positive cells and dopamine neuronal levels and further increased impairment. Overexpression of ATF4 alone and ATF4+⍺S also resulted in increased caspase 3/7 activity compared to GFP controls and un-injected intact animal models, indicating dopaminergic cell death occurs through apoptosis in response to ATF4 up-regulation². Conclusions.  Studies indicate ATF4 up-regulation does not protect nigral dopamine neurons against ER stress induced by overexpression of ⍺S pathology^2,4. Moreover, PERK/ATF4 up-regulation plays a pinnacle role in dopaminergic cell death through apoptosis in the SNpc of PD patients^2,7. The PERK/ATF4 pathway reveals a potential molecular pathogenic mechanism associated with the neurodegeneration in PD and possible therapeutic target for PD treatment³.

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