Alpha-synuclein is one of the main constituents of Lewy bodies and plays an important role in the pathology of Parkinson's disease. Mutation or overexpression of alpha-synuclein causes Parkinson's disease, and downregulation of alpha-synuclein resists MPP(+)-induced cell death, but the mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we attempted to explore the effect of alpha-synuclein knockdown on m...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, mainly characterised by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. MPP+ has been widely used as a PD-related neurotoxin, and their reports suggested the several hypotheses for neuronal cell death. However, most of these hypotheses come from the studies about the acute MPP+ exposure. We previously revealed that mild MPP+ expo...

The effects of neurotoxins on levels of mitochondrially encoded gene transcripts in a dopaminergic neuronal cell line, MN9D, were examined following treatment with 200 microM N-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)) or 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). As confirmed by a Northern blot analysis, levels of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 (COX III) and ATPase subunit 6 (ATPase 6) transcript were decreased in ...

In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of toxicity of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)), an ultimate toxic metabolite of a mitochondrial neurotoxin, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, that causes Parkinson-like symptoms in experimental animals and humans. We used rat cerebellar granule neurons as a model cell system for investigating MPP(+) toxicity. Results show ...

To further characterize MPP(+)-induced cell death and to explore the role of Bcl-2-related proteins in this death paradigm, we utilized a mesencephalon-derived dopaminergic neuronal cell line (MN9D) stably transfected with human bcl-2 (MN9D/Bcl-2), its C-terminal deletion mutant (MN9D/Bcl-2Delta22), murine bax (MN9D/Bax), or a control vector (MN9D/Neo). As determined by electron microscopy and ...

In this study, we investigated the effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+))-induced cell death in PC12 cells. Coincubation of PC12 cells with indomethacin, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, or diclofenac, but not aspirin or N-[2-(cyclohexyloxy)-4-nitrophenyl]methanosulfonamide (NS-398), significantly potentiated the MPP(+)-induced cell death. In cont...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) becomes one of the most important health problems in China recently. Date for MPP in China is scarce. Although macrolides and/or cortical steroids had been reported to be effective treatment for MPP, the long-term outcome remained uncertain. A study on status of MPP in China was conducted via a systematic review of published studies which have the Chinese d...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, characterized by loss of dopominergic (DA) neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), and can be experimentally mimicked by the neurotoxin MPP(+) in vitro models. In this study, we investigated the potential protective effect of SKF-96365, a non-specific inhibitor of SOCE (store-operated calcium entry), on M...

Hepatic organic cation transport consists, in part, of carrier-mediated sinusoidal uptake stimulated by an inside-negative membrane potential and canalicular excretion driven by electroneutral organic cation/H+ exchange. Intracellular organic cation transport involves sequestration into acidified organelles, also mediated by organic cation/H+ exchange. A sinusoidal organic cation transporter ha...

Micro-perforated panel (MPP) can be used as non-fibrous acoustic absorber which can provide broadband sound absorption performance. In this study, a sub-structuring methodology based on the Patch Transfer Function (PTF) approach to deal with duct silencers with MPP absorbers and internal partitions is proposed, and the sound attenuation performance of such silencers is investigated. Reactive si...