| Title | Exendin-4 protects dopaminergic neurons by inhibition of microglial activation and matrix metalloproteinase-3 expression in an animal model of Parkinson's disease. | | Author(s) | Kim S, Moon M, Park S | | Institution | S Kim, Pharmacology, Kyunghee University School of Medicine,, Seoul, Korea, Republic of. | | Source | J Endocrinol 2009 Jul 1. | | Abstract | Exendin-4 is a naturally occurring more potent and stable analogue of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that selectively binds at the GLP-1 receptor. It has been recently demonstrated that GLP-1 receptor stimulation preserves dopaminergic neurons in cellular and rodent models of Parkinson's disease (PD). 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) causes nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity in rodents; previous studies suggest that activated microglia actively participate in the pathogenesis of PD neurodegeneration. However, the role of microglia in the neuroprotective properties of exendin-4 is still unknown. Here we show that, in the mouse MPTP PD model, systemic administration of exendin-4 significantly attenuates the loss of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) neurons and the striatal dopaminergic fibers. Exendin-4 prevents MPTP-induced microglial activation in the SNpc and striatum, and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3. In addition exendin-4 also suppressed MPTP-induced expression of pro-inflammatory molecules tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-1beta. Our data indicate that exendin-4 may act as a survival factor for dopaminergic neurons by functioning as a microglia-deactivating factor and suggest that exendin-4 may be a valuable therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative diseases such as PD. | | Language | ENG | | Pub Type(s) | JOURNAL ARTICLE
| | PubMed ID | 19570816 |
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