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- Title
Female Sex and Brain-Selective Estrogen Benefit a-Synuclein Tetramerization and the PD-like Motor Syndrome in 3K Transgenic Mice.
- Authors
Rajsombath, Molly M.; Nam, Alice Y.; Ericsson, Maria; Nuber, Silke
- Abstract
Many studies report a higher risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) and younger age of onset in men. This, and the fact that the neuropathological process underlying PD symptoms may begin before menopause, suggests that estrogen-based hormone therapy could modify this higher risk in males. However, the effects of female sex or estrogen on a-synuclein (aS) homeostasis and related PD neuropathology remain unknown. Here, we used an aS tetramer-abrogating mouse model of PD (3K) that amplifies the familial E46K PD mutation to investigate the effects of female sex and brain-selective estrogen treatment on aS tetramerization and solubility, formation of vesicle-rich «S + aggregates, dopaminergic and cortical fiber integrity, and associated motor deficits. In male 3K mice, the motor phenotype became apparent at ~ 10 weeks and increased to age 6 months, paralleled by PD-like neuropathology, whereas 3K females showed a significant delay in onset. At 6 months, this beneficial phenotypic effect in 3K females was associated with a higher aS tetramer-to-monomer ratio and less decrease in dopaminergic and cortical fiber length and quantity. Brain-selective estrogen treatment in symptomatic 3K mice significantly increased the tetramer-to-monomer ratio, turnover by autophagy of aggregate-prone monomers, and neurite complexity of surviving DAergic and cortical neurons, in parallel with benefits in motor performance. Our findings support an upstream role for aS tetramer loss in PD phenotypes and a role for estrogen in mitigating PD-like neuropathology in vivo. Brain-selective estrogen therapy may be useful in delaying or reducing PD symptoms in men and postmenopausal women.
- Subjects
TRANSGENIC mice; ESTROGEN; PREMATURE menopause; PARKINSON'S disease; SEX (Biology); HORMONE therapy
- Publication
Journal of Neuroscience, 2019, Vol 39, Issue 38, p7628
- ISSN
0270-6474
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1523/jneurosci.0313-19.2019