1. Academic Validation
  2. SKP-SCs transplantation alleviates 6-OHDA-induced dopaminergic neuronal injury by modulating autophagy

SKP-SCs transplantation alleviates 6-OHDA-induced dopaminergic neuronal injury by modulating autophagy

  • Cell Death Dis. 2021 Jul 5;12(7):674. doi: 10.1038/s41419-021-03967-3.
Chengxiao Ma  # 1 Wen Zhang  # 1 Wengcong Wang 1 Jiabing Shen 1 Kefu Cai 1 Mei Liu 2 Maohong Cao 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China.
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, China. liumei@ntu.edu.cn.
  • 3 Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China. Cmhongnt@sina.com.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disease. Cell transplantation is a promising therapeutic option for improving the survival and function of dopaminergic neurons, but the mechanisms underlying the interaction between the transplanted cells and the recipient neurons remain to be studied. In this study, we investigated the effects of skin precursor cell-derived Schwann cells (SKP-SCs) directly cocultured with 6-OHDA-injured dopaminergic neurons in vitro and of SKP-SCs transplanted into the brains of 6-OHDA-induced PD mice in vivo. In vitro and in vivo studies revealed that SKP-SCs could reduce the damage to dopaminergic neurons by enhancing self-autophagy and modulating neuronal Autophagy. Thus, the present study provides the first evidence that cell transplantation mitigates 6-OHDA-induced damage to dopaminergic neurons by enhancing self-autophagy, suggesting that earlier transplantation of Schwann cells might help alleviate the loss of dopaminergic neurons.

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