Efeito do 8-metoxipsoraleno(8-mop)na citotoxicidade da retonona sobre células do sistema nervoso central, um modelo de doença de parkinson in vitro / Effect of 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) on the cytotoxicity of rotenone on the central nervous system cells, a model of Parkinson's disease in vitro

Doença de Parkinson (DP) é caracterizada por uma perda seletiva e profunda dos neurônios dopaminérgicos da substância nigra pars compacta (SNpc) do mesencéfalo, acompanhada pela espoliação de dopamina no corpo estriado. A maioria dos casos de DP apresenta etiologia multifatorial, com a presença de componentes genéticos e ambientais. Embora existam diferentes causas possíveis, a patogênese da desordem parece convergir para mecanismos relacionados à disfunção mitocondrial, estresse oxidativo e mau enovelamento proteico. Um modelo estabelecido na literatura para estudo desta doença, tanto in vitro quanto in vivo é a administração de rotenona, um pesticida derivado de plantas que inibe o complexo I mitocondrial e favorece a geração de espécies reativas de oxigênio (ERO), levando a uma espoliação de glutation reduzido (GSH) através do processo de detoxificação destes compostos eletrofílicos, catalisados por glutation S-transferases (GSTs). Sendo assim, a busca por novas substâncias com atividade neuroprotetora é atualmente o foco de estudos, e metabólitos isolados de plantas podem ser fontes destas moléculas. Dessa forma, o 8-metoxipsoraleno (8-MOP), uma furocumarina, foi testado como um possível agente protetor sobre a citotoxicidade causada pela rotenona em modelos in vitro de gliomas, considerando o papel do glutation neste processo. O estudo adotou uma abordagem que associa técnicas bioquímicas e de biologia celular. Ensaios de viabilidade celular foram realizados em células de glioma murino (C6) e glioblastoma multiforme humano (U251) através da redução do brometo de 3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il)-2,5-difeniltetrazolium (MTT)...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by a profound and selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) accompanied by midbrain dopamine depletion in the striatum. Most cases of PD present multifactorial etiologies, with the presence of genetic and environmental components. Although there are different possible causes, the pathogenesis of the disorder seems to converge to mechanisms related to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and bad protein folding. An established model in the literature to study this disease, both in vitro and in vivo is rotenone administration, a pesticide derived from plants that inhibits the mitochondrial complex I and favors the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to reduced glutathione (GSH) depletion through the detoxification process of this electrophilic compound catalyzed by glutathione S-transferases (GSTs). Thus, the search for new substances with neuroprotective activity is currently the focus of studies, and plant isolated metabolites can be sources of these molecules. Thus, 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), a furocoumarin, was tested as a potential protective agent on the cytotoxicity caused by rotenone in glioma cells in vitro models, considering the role of glutathione in the process. The study adopted an approach that combines biochemical and cell biology techniques. Cell viability assays were performed in murine glioma cells (C6) and human glioblastoma (U251) cells through the reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)...

NGF in experimental models of parkinson disease

We have now applied the enzyme immunoassay usin anti-NGF monoclonal antibody (MAb) 27/21 and a blocking test validating the specificity of the immunoreactivity for NGF in serum samples to examine NGF levels in normal rat sera, hemiparkinsonian rat sera, normal monkey sera, and MPTP-treated monkey sera. The levels of NGF in treated animals showed reductions when compared with serum from normal animals. The NGF level alterations observed in lesioned animals and in human parkinsonian patients evidence a relationship between this neurotrophic factor and the neurodegenerative changes observed in Parkinson disease

Evolutive levels of NGF in neurodegenerative disorders

The two-site enzyme immunoassasy (EIA) using the monoclonal antibody (MAb) 27/21 is a valuable method capable of detecting mouse and human NGF quantitatively (Soderstrom et al., 1990). The presence of NGF in serum has been controversial, since t6he previous assay methods failed to detect circulating NGF. Recently, we described the immunological detection of low levels of NGF in human serum samples and introduced a blocking test validating the specificity of the immunoreactivity for NGF in human serum (Lorigados et al., 1982). In the present work, we applied this two-site EIA using monoclonal NGF antibody 27/21 in the study of NGF serum levels from diverse neurodegenerative disorders. We also studied evolutive samples of Parkinson's patients that received neural transplant