Ms. Desole et al., MANGANESE AND THYL-4-(2'-ETHYLPHENYL)-1,2,3,6-TETRAHYDROPYRIDINE INDUCE APOPTOSIS IN PC12 CELLS, Neuroscience letters, 209(3), 1996, pp. 193-196
Oxidative stress is thought to play a key role both in the neurotoxin
MPTP- and manganese (Mn)-induced neurotoxicity and in apoptotic cell d
eath. In the present study, we report that Mn and the MPTP analogue th
yl-4-(2'-ethylphenyl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (2'Et-MPTP), which is
metabolized by MAO-A to 1-methyl-4-(2'-ethylphenyl)-pyridinium ion (a
t concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0 mM), induced apoptosis in PC12 cells.
Apoptosis was tested by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated
2'-deoxyuridine-5'-triphosphate nick end labelling (TUNEL) technique,
flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. Both Mn and 2'Et-MPTP ind
uced also a time-dependent decrease in cell viability, as determined b
y the (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)
assay. Only Mn-induced apoptosis and decrease in cell viability were
inhibited by the antioxidant ascorbic acid. We conclude that apoptosis
may be an important mechanism of cell death in MPTP- and Mn-induced p
arkinsonism. However, an oxidative stress mechanism may be recognized
only in the Mn-induced apoptosis.