INVESTIGATION OF GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF SOME PROTEINS RELATED TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE IN RATS EXPOSED TO PRENATAL STRESS

Abstract

INVESTIGATION OF GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF SOME PROTEINS RELATED TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN RATS EXPOSED TO PRENATAL STRESS Ilayda VAROL1*, Sinem Ezgi TURUNC OZOGLU2 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Izmir, Türkiye 2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Izmir, Türkiye ORCID Numbers: İlayda Varol: 0009-0000-4037-8612 Sinem Ezgi Turunc Ozoglu: 0000-0002-7587-7443 *Corresponding author: Ilayda VAROL Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Izmir, Türkiye E-mail: varolilayda@gmail.com Tel: +90 507 333 18 35 Ethical Committee Approval: The Ege University Ethics Committee on Animal Experiments approved this study (05/24/2017; Reference No. 2017-023). INVESTIGATION OF GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF SOME PROTEINS RELATED TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN RATS EXPOSED TO PRENATAL STRESS Abstract This study was carried out in order to better understand how prenatal stress (PS) may affect the future onset of Parkinson's disease (PD). A dexamethasone-induced PS model was established in rats for the study. Changes in the expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), α-synuclein (SNCA), dopamine transporter (SLC6A3), and parkin (PRKN) proteins, which play role in PD pathogenesis, were demonstrated by real-time PCR in the cerebral cortex of male rats exposed to PS. From GD 14 to 21, pregnant rats were injected daily with Dex or saline (100 μg/kg and 1 ml/kg). 3 months after birth, male rats underwent decapitation (n=5), cerebral cortex dissection was performed. Total RNA was isolated from cortexes and used for cDNA synthesis. Gene expression analyzes were performed according to the ∆∆CT method. The statistical differences between groups were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney test. Statistics were deemed significant at a level of 0.05. Dex exposure throughout pregnancy significantly increased mRNA levels of TH and SLC6A3. No significant differences were found in the mRNA levels of PRKN and SNCA between experimental groups. In conclusion, offspring exposed to PS may be more susceptible to PD in adulthood through changes in the cortical mRNA levels of TH and SLC6A3. Keywords: Prenatal stress, Parkinson’s Disease, Tyrosine hydroxylase, Dopamine transporter