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Kearney PJ, Zhang Y, Liang M, Tan Y, Kahuno E, Conklin TL, Fagan RR, Pavchinskiy RG, Shaffer SA, Yue Z, Melikian HE. Silencing Parkinson's risk allele Rit2 sex-specifically compromises motor function and dopamine neuron viability. NPJ Parkinsons Dis 2024; 10:41. [PMID: 38395968 PMCID: PMC10891080 DOI: 10.1038/s41531-024-00648-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and arises from dopamine (DA) neuron death selectively in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Rit2 is a reported PD risk allele, and recent single cell transcriptomic studies identified a major RIT2 cluster in PD DA neurons, potentially linking Rit2 expression loss to a PD patient cohort. However, it is still unknown whether Rit2 loss itself impacts DA neuron function and/or viability. Here we report that conditional Rit2 silencing in mouse DA neurons drove motor dysfunction that occurred earlier in males than females and was rescued at early stages by either inhibiting the DA transporter (DAT) or with L-DOPA treatment. Motor dysfunction was accompanied by decreased DA release, striatal DA content, phenotypic DAergic markers, DA neurons, and DAergic terminals, with increased pSer129-alpha synuclein and pSer935-LRRK2 expression. These results provide clear evidence that Rit2 loss is causal for SNc cell death and motor dysfunction, and reveal key sex-specific differences in the response to Rit2 loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick J Kearney
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Yuanxi Zhang
- Department of Neurology and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marianna Liang
- Department of Neurology and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yanglan Tan
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- DMPK Group, Merck, S. San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Kahuno
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Tucker L Conklin
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Regeneron, Albany, NY, USA
| | - Rita R Fagan
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Rebecca G Pavchinskiy
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Scott A Shaffer
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Zhenyu Yue
- Department of Neurology and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Haley E Melikian
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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Kearney PJ, Zhang Y, Tan Y, Kahuno E, Conklin TL, Fagan RR, Pavchinskiy RG, Shafer SA, Yue Z, Melikian HE. Rit2 silencing in dopamine neurons drives a Parkinsonian phenotype. bioRxiv 2023:2023.04.26.538430. [PMID: 37162843 PMCID: PMC10168302 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.26.538430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and arises from dopamine (DA) neuron death selectively in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Rit2 is a reported PD risk allele, and recent single cell transcriptomic studies identified a major RIT2 cluster in PD DA neurons, potentially linking Rit2 expression loss to a PD patient cohort. However, it is still unknown whether Rit2 loss itself is causative for PD or PD-like symptoms. Here we report that conditional Rit2 silencing in mouse DA neurons drove motor dysfunction that occurred earlier in males than females and was rescued at early stages by either inhibiting the DA transporter (DAT) or with L-DOPA treatment. Motor dysfunction was accompanied by decreased DA release, striatal DA content, phenotypic DAergic markers, DA neurons, and DAergic terminals, with increased pSer129-alpha synuclein and pSer935-LRRK2 expression. These results provide the first evidence that Rit2 loss is causal for SNc cell death and a PD-like phenotype, and reveal key sex-specific differences in the response to Rit2 loss.
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Kearney PJ, Zhang Y, Tan Y, Kahuno E, Conklin TL, Fagan RR, Pavchinskiy RG, Shafer SA, Yue Z, Melikian HE. Rit2 silencing in dopamine neurons drives a progressive Parkinsonian phenotype. Res Sq 2023:rs.3.rs-2944614. [PMID: 37293098 PMCID: PMC10246263 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2944614/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and arises from dopamine (DA) neuron death selectively in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Rit2 is a reported PD risk allele, and recent single cell transcriptomic studies identified a major RIT2 cluster in PD DA neurons, potentially linking Rit2 expression anomalies to a PD patient cohort. However, it is still unknown whether Rit2 loss itself is causative for PD or PD-like symptoms. Here we report that conditional Rit2 silencing in mouse DA neurons drove a progressive motor dysfunction that was more rapid in males than females and was rescued at early stages by either inhibiting the DA transporter (DAT) or with L-DOPA treatment. Motor dysfunction was accompanied by decreases in DA release, striatal DA content, phenotypic DAergic markers, and a loss of DA neurons, with increased pSer129-alpha synuclein expression. These results provide the first evidence that Rit2 loss is causal for SNc cell death and a PD-like phenotype, and reveal key sex-specific differences in the response to Rit2 loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick J. Kearney
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Yuanxi Zhang
- Department of Neurology and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
| | - Yanglan Tan
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Shrewsbury, MA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Elizabeth Kahuno
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Tucker L. Conklin
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Rita R. Fagan
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Rebecca G. Pavchinskiy
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Scott A. Shafer
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Shrewsbury, MA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
| | - Zhenyu Yue
- Department of Neurology and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
| | - Haley E. Melikian
- Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Neurobiology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
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