Journal article

Nigral dopaminergic PAK4 prevents neurodegeneration in rat models of Parkinson's disease

So-Yoon Won, Mee-Hee Park, Soon-Tae You, Seung-Won Choi, Hyong-Kyu Kim, Catriona McLean, Suk-Chul Bae, Sang Ryong Kim, Byung Kwan Jin, Kun Ho Lee, Eun-Young Shin, Eung-Gook Kim

SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE | AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE | Published : 2016

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra. No neuroprotective treatments have successfully prevented the progression of this disease. We report that p21-activated kinase 4 (PAK4) is a key survival factor for DA neurons. We observed PAK4 immunoreactivity in rat and human DA neurons in brain tissue, but not in microglia or astrocytes. PAK4 activity was markedly decreased in postmortem brain tissue from PD patients and in rodent models of PD. Expression of constitutively active PAK4S445N/S474E (caPAK4) protected DA neurons in both the 6-hydroxydopamine and α-synuclein rat models of PD and preserved motor function. This neu..

View full abstract