AAV Transduction of Dopamine Neurons With Constitutively Active Rheb Protects From Neurodegeneration and Mediates Axon Regrowth

• Published in: Molecular therapy 2012-02, Vol.20 (2), p.275-286
• Main Authors: Kim, Sang Ryong, Kareva, Tatyana, Yarygina, Olga, Kholodilov, Nikolai, Burke, Robert E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adeno-associated virus; Animals; Axons - drug effects; Axons - metabolism; Carrier Proteins - metabolism; Corpus Striatum - drug effects; Corpus Striatum - metabolism; Dependovirus - genetics; Disease; Disease Models, Animal; Dopamine; Dopaminergic Neurons - metabolism; Genetic Therapy; Genetic Vectors - administration & dosage; Genetic Vectors - genetics; Humans; Investigations; Kinases; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins - genetics; Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Mutation; Nervous system; Neurodegeneration; Neurons; Neuropeptides - genetics; Neuropeptides - metabolism; Neurosciences; Original; Oxidopamine - adverse effects; Parkinson Disease - prevention & control; Parkinson Disease - therapy; Parkinson's disease; Phosphoproteins - metabolism; Phosphorylation; Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain Protein; Signal Transduction; Substantia Nigra - drug effects; Substantia Nigra - metabolism; Transduction, Genetic; Vectors (Biology)
• ISSN: 1525-0016; 1525-0024
• DOI: 10.1038/mt.2011.213

There are currently no therapies that provide either protection or restoration of neuronal function for adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Many clinical efforts to provide such benefits by infusion of neurotrophic factors have failed, in spite of robust effects in preclinical assessments. One important reason for these failures is the difficulty, due to diffusion limits, of providing these protein molecules in sufficient amounts to the intended cellular targets in the central nervous system. This challenge suggests an alternative approach, that of viral vector transduction to directly activate the intracellular signaling pathways that mediate neurotrophic effects. To this end we have investigated the ability of a constitutively active form of the GTPase Rheb, an important activator of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTor) signaling, to mediate neurotrophic effects in dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra (SN), a population of neurons affected in PD. We find that constitutively active hRheb(S16H) induces many neurotrophic effects in mice, including abilities to both preserve and restore the nigrostriatal dopaminergic axonal projections in a highly destructive neurotoxin model. We conclude that direct viral vector transduction of vulnerable neuronal populations to activate intracellular neurotrophic signaling pathways offers promise for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease.