Page 10 - Q. Neuroscience

[Q. Neuroscience-6]

Tat-Aldose reductase prevents dopaminergic neuronal cell

death in vitro and in vivo by the modulation of MAPK and

apoptotic signal pathways

Hyun Jung Kwon², Su Bin Cho¹, Hyeon Ji Yeo¹, Eun Ji Yeo¹, Yeon Joo Choi¹, Hyun Ju Cha¹, Min Jea Shin¹,

Sung-Woo Cho³, Oh-Shin Kwon⁴, Duk-Soo Kim⁵, Won Sik Eum¹, Dae Won Kim², Soo Young Choi¹

¹Department of Biomedical Science and Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hallym University,

Chuncheon 24252, Korea, ²Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Research Institute of Oral Sciences,
College of De, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, Korea, ³Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea, ⁴School of Life Sciences, College

of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Taegu 41566, Korea, ⁵Department of Anatomy, College of
Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan-Si 31538, Korea

Aldose reductase (AR) is involved in the detoxification of aldehydes and oxidative stress. Although AR exerts anti-
oxidant effects, the precise role of AR in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is not stydied yet. Therefore, we investigated the

protective effect of AR protein against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)-induced SH-SY5Y cell death and 1-
methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD mouse model using Tat-AR protein. Tat-AR protein

transduced into SH-SY5Y cells and markedly protected MPP+-induced cell death and DNA fragmentation and this
fusion protein also reduced the activation of MAPKs and regulated Bcl-2, Bax, and Caspase-3 expression levels.

Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis showed that transduced Tat-AR protein into the substantia nigra (SN)
in brain markedly inhibited dopaminergic neuronal cell death in the MPTP-induced PD mouse model. Those in vitro
and in vivo data suggest that Tat-AR protein could be useful as therapeutic protein drug candidate for PD.