Sphingosine kinase 2 and sphingosine-1-phosphate promotes mitochondrial function in dopaminergic neurons of mouse model of Parkinson's disease and in MPP+ -treated MN9D cells in vitro.

Dysregulation of sphingolipid metabolism has been shown to trigger the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative disorders. The present study focuses on the role of one of the two sphingosine kinases, Sphk2 and its metabolite sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) signaling in Parkinson's disease (PD). Our study indicated a marked down regulation of Sphk2 expression in the substantia nigra region of the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD mouse model and in the cellular PD model. Localization studies indicated that Sphk2 was predominantly present in mitochondria, proposing for its potential role in mitochondrial functions. Since mitochondrial dysfunction has been described to be the major pathological event in PD, the present study focused on the role of Sphk2/S1P signaling in promoting mitochondrial functions in the MPTP-induced mouse model of PD and in 1-methyl-4 phenylpyridinium (MPP(+))-treated MN9D cells. Our study demonstrated that inhibition of Sphk2 decreased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) and its downstream targets nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) which are the key genes regulating mitochondrial function. In addition, there was also a significant reduction in the total cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD 2) with an associated increase in levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the absence of Sphk2. Interestingly, it was found that treating the cells with exogenous S1P along with MPP(+) exerted a neuroprotective effect by activation of p-CREB, PGC-1α and NRF-1 in the MN9D cells. Moreover, the level of ATP was unaffected in the MPP(+)-treated cells in the presence of S1P. It was also observed that levels of ROS were significantly decreased in the MPP(+)-treated cells in the presence of exogenous S1P. Our study also demonstrated that S1P exerted its protective effect through the S1P1 receptor. Taken together, these results show that Sphk2/S1P has an important role to play in the survival of the dopaminergic neurons, in the pathogenesis of PD.

Ionic complex systems based on hyaluronic acid and PEGylated TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The clinical applications of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL), an emerging therapeutic protein for cancer and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are limited by its instability and short biological half-life. In this study, efficient therapeutic modalities for RA treatment were developed in the form of nano-sized complexes (nanocomplexes) based on hyaluronic acid (HA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-derivatized TRAIL (PEG-TRAIL) formed by N-terminal specific PEGylation. The nanocomplexes were prepared by simply mixing the positively charged PEG-TRAIL and negatively charged HA, and showed negligible loss of bioactivity compared with the PEG-TRAIL. The in vivo biodistribution and diffusion kinetics of Cy5.5-labeled PEG-TRAIL in mice were observed using a near-infrared optical imaging system after subcutaneous injection of three different formulations: PEG-TRAIL in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4), nanocomplex in PBS, or nanocomplex in 1% HA solution. The results suggested that PEG-TRAIL is released slowly in vivo from the nanocomplex in 1% HA. Experiments in a collagen-induced arthritis mouse model demonstrated that the magnitudes of therapeutic effects, as judged by clinical scores and histology, were significantly enhanced by the sustained delivery of PEG-TRAIL, with the order of nanocomplex in 1% HA>nanocomplex in PBS>PEG-TRAIL in PBS. In addition, sustained delivery of PEG-TRAIL from the nanocomplex in 1% HA resulted in significant reduction of serum inflammatory cytokines and collagen-specific antibodies that are responsible for the pathogenesis of RA. These results imply that HA/PEG-TRAIL nanocomplex formulations are promising therapeutic modalities for the treatment of RA.