Nicotine analogues as potential therapeutic agents in Parkinson’s disease by targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in astrocytes

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Event Abstract Back to Event Nicotine analogues as potential therapeutic agents in Parkinson’s disease by targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in astrocytes Juan C. Jurado-Coronel1, Janneth Gonzalez1, Valentina Echeverria Moran2 and George E. Barreto1* 1 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia 2 Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Center for Biomedical Research., Chile Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a relatively common disorder of the Central Nervous System (CNS), whose etiology is characterized by a selective and progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, and the presence of Lewy bodies in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra, thus dopamine depletion in the striatum. Patients with this disease suffer from tremors, slowness of movements, gait instability, rigidity, and may also present functional disability, reduced quality of life, and rapid cognitive decline. The prevalence of this disease is in a range of 107-187 per 100,000 inhabitants. Previous studies have shown that nicotine exerts beneficial effects in patients with PD and in in vitro and in vivo models of this disease. Astrocytes have an important role in the immune system, and that nicotine might be able to reduce inflammation-induced activation of pro-apoptotic signaling in PD. Nicotine might exert its effect through activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChRs) expressed in glial cells. Moreover, nicotine administration can protect dopaminergic neurons against degeneration by inhibiting astrocytes activation in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and therefore reducing inflammation. Besides this beneficial effect of nicotine, its continuing use can induce toxicity and cause dependency. To counteract this effect, nicotine analogues have risen as an important therapeutic approach to maintain nicotine´s beneficial effects, but avoid its toxicity. Since astrocytes might drive chronic inflammatory processes in PD, therefore increasing neuronal vulnerability to damage, the administration of nicotine analogues in astrocytes is of interest to diminish neuronal death. In this work, we assess the role of different nicotine analogues in astrocytes following rotenone stimuli, and determine whether the possible beneficial effects of nicotine are via activation of α7-nAChRs. Figure 1 Keywords: Parkinson Disease, neurodegeneration, Astrocytes, Nicotine, Nicotine analogues, Neuroprotection, chronic inflammation Conference: Latin-American School on glial cells in the diseased brain (IBRO), Bogotá, Colombia, 13 Jul - 17 Jul, 2015. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Neurodegenerative diseases Citation: Jurado-Coronel JC, Gonzalez J, Echeverria Moran V and Barreto G (2015). Nicotine analogues as potential therapeutic agents in Parkinson’s disease by targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in astrocytes. Conference Abstract: Latin-American School on glial cells in the diseased brain (IBRO). doi: 10.3389/conf.fncel.2015.35.00025 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 24 Feb 2015; Published Online: 11 Jun 2015. * Correspondence: Prof. George E. Barreto, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia, gesbarreto@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Juan C Jurado-Coronel Janneth Gonzalez Valentina Echeverria Moran George E. Barreto Google Juan C Jurado-Coronel Janneth Gonzalez Valentina Echeverria Moran George E. Barreto Google Scholar Juan C Jurado-Coronel Janneth Gonzalez Valentina Echeverria Moran George E. Barreto PubMed Juan C Jurado-Coronel Janneth Gonzalez Valentina Echeverria Moran George E. Barreto Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.