Down-regulated long non-coding RNA RMST ameliorates dopaminergic neuron damage in Parkinson’s disease rats via regulation of TLR/NF-κB signaling pathway

Abstract

ObjectiveCurrent treatment and prognosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are not ideal. This study explored the mechanism of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) rhabdomyosarcoma 2-associated transcript (RMST) in dopaminergic (DA) neuron damage in PD rats. MethodsPD rats were modeled and injected with RMST silence or overexpression vectors to figure out its roles in oxidative stress, the apoptosis of DA neurons in brain substantia nigra (SN), and neurobehavioral activities of PD rats. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), synaptophysin (SYN), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule (Iba-1) in SN were detected. RMST and Toll-like receptor (TLR)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway-related factors were detected. ResultsRMST expression in brain SN of rats, TLR2, TLR4 expression in neurons and NF-κB expression in cell nucleus were increased. Silenced RMST improved the neurobehavioral activities, depressed oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis, increased TH and SYN expression, and reduced the activation degree of glial cells in SN and the inflammatory response via reducing GFAP and Iba-1. Moreover, reduced RMST reduced TLR2 and TLR4 expression in neurons and NF-κB expression in cell nucleus in PD rats. ConclusionInhibited RMST attenuates DA neuron damage in PD rats, which may be implicated with TLR/NF-κB signaling pathway.