Overexpressing Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase enhances survival of transplanted neurons in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

A high survival rate of grafted dopamine neurons is crucial for reversing neurological deficits following brain tissue transplantation in Parkinson's disease. For unknown reasons the survival rate of transplanted dopamine neurons is only around 10% in experimental animals. The hypothesis that oxidative stress causes the loss of transplanted neurons was tested by grafting neurons from transgenic mice that overexpress Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase. Compared with the survival of those taken from non-transgenic littermates, the survival was 4 times higher for the transgenic dopamine neurons with a concomitant more extensive functional recovery. The results provide direct support for the free radical hypothesis of dopaminergic neuron death in brain tissue grafting.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Germany: a prospective 12-year surveillance.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder with a worldwide incidence of 1-1.5 per million. As in other countries, a CJD surveillance unit with a clinical and neuropathological approach was established in Goettingen (Germany) in 1993. Here we report the epidemiological data from a prospective 12-year surveillance. Since 1993, there has been an increasing incidence of CJD, from 0.7 in 1993 to 1.6 in 2005 with a quite stable level since 1998. During this period, the proportion of patients with MV and VV codon 129 genotype rose, possibly because of better identification of atypical subtypes. Six percent of all patients had a PRNP mutation, mainly D178N-129M (FFI), E200K and V210I. Iatrogenic CJD was a rare phenomenon. No patient infected by cadaveric growth hormone extracts was reported. Furthermore, no variant CJD patient has yet been identified in Germany. Differential diagnoses revealed a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, with Alzheimer's disease in the lead. One-third of the non-CJD patients included in this study suffered from a potentially treatable disorder such as metabolic or inflammatory diseases. The incidence and mortality rates in Germany are similar to those in other European countries. In contrast, however, acquired forms, such as iatrogenic and variant CJD are still rare in Germany or have not yet been identified.

Microglia and the development of spongiform change in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Recent in vitro experiments suggest that neurotoxicity of the prion protein is dependent on the presence of microglia. We have studied 11 cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) using immunocytochemistry in combination with computerized image analysis to clarify the relationship between spongiform change and microglial activation. MHC class II-positive microglia were almost exclusively confined to cortical gray matter where the neuropil area occupied by these cells exceeded that of controls more than 350-fold. In cortical regions with a bimodal distribution of spongiform degeneration, the presence of class II-positive microglia correlated well with the presence of vacuolation in layer V, but significantly less with spongiform change in layers II and III. In areas where spongiform degeneration affected the entire depth of the cortex, activated microglia were predominantly located in the inner one-half of the cortex or were evenly distributed throughout all cortical laminae. Here, microglia exhibited atypical, tortuous cell processes and occasionally intracytoplasmic vacuoles, suggesting that microglia themselves may become a disease target. Taken together, our results provide indirect evidence against an early causative involvement of microglia in the development of spongiform change. At later stages, however, diseased microglia could produce harmful factors which mediate both astrogliosis and neuronal injury.

Immune reactions following systemic immunization prior or subsequent to intrastriatal transplantation of allogeneic mesencephalic tissue in adult rats.

We have previously found that dissociated mesencephalic tissue, which differs from the host at both major histocompatibility complex and non-major histocompatibility complex gene loci, can survive stereotaxic transplantation to the striatum of adult rats. We have now studied the outcome of intrastriatal neural allografts in rats that were systemically immunized by an orthotopic skin allograft either prior or subsequent to intracerebral implantation surgery. Dissociated mesencephalic tissue from Lewis rat embryos was stereotaxically injected into the dopamine-depleted striatum of hemi-parkinsonian Sprague-Dawley rats. One group was immunized by an orthotopic allogeneic skin graft of the same genetic origin as the neural graft, six weeks before the neural transplantation (the pre-immunized group). Another group was post-immunized by an orthotopic skin allograft, six weeks after the neural transplantation (the post-immunized group). A control group of rats was not challenged by a skin allograft. Marked behavioural recovery was observed in six of seven rats in the control group, in six of eight rats in the post-immunized group, and in none of the pre-immunized rats. Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive cells were found in rats from the two behaviourally compensated groups, but not in the pre-immunized group. The immune responses were evaluated by OX-18 (monoclonal antibody against major histocompatibility complex class I antigen), OX-6 (major histocompatibility complex class II antigen), OX-42 (microglia and macrophages), glial fibrillary acidic protein (astrocytes), OX-8 (cytotoxic T-lymphocytes) and W3/25 (helper T-lymphocytes) immunocytochemistry. All the neural allografts in the pre-immunized group were rejected, leaving scars only. There were more intense immune responses to the allografts in the post-immunized group than the control group, in terms of immunocytochemically higher expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens and more intense cellular reactions consisting of macrophages, activated microglia and astrocytes, in addition to CD8- and CD4-positive lymphocytes. In summary, the results show the following: (i) systemic pre-immunization leads to complete rejection of intrastriatal neural allografts, implying that the status of the host immune system before transplantation determines the outcome for intrastriatal neural allografts; (ii) established intrastriatal neural allografts can survive for at least six weeks after systemic immunization, in spite of increased host immune responses in and around the allografts; (iii) there are no marked immune reactions against intrastriatal neural allografts 13 weeks after implantation in rats which have not been systemically immunized by a skin allograft; (iv) pre-immunized rats may provide a very useful animal model to investigate the role of inflammatory lymphokines in immune rejection and to test alternative immunosuppressive drugs.

DARPP-32-rich zones in grafts of lateral ganglionic eminence govern the extent of functional recovery in skilled paw reaching in an animal model of Huntington's disease.

Grafts of striatal tissue comprise two different types of tissue: regions with (P-zones) and without (NP-zones) neurons that express markers characteristic of the striatum, such as dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein with a mol. wt of 32,000 (DARPP-32). It remains unclear whether P-zones alone play a crucial role in functional effects of striatal grafts in an animal model of Huntington's disease. The present study has been performed to determine: (i) the yield of DARPP-32-positive neurons in grafts of lateral ganglionic eminence; (ii) whether treatment of graft tissue with the spin-trapping agent alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone enhances the survival of implanted DARPP-32-positive neurons; and (iii) the relationship between the number of DARPP-32-positive neurons in the grafts and functional effects of the grafts on paw-reaching ability in rats with unilateral quinolinic acid lesions of the striatum. Dissociated tissue derived from the lateral ganglionic eminence of rat embryos (embryonic day 14), with or without addition of alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone (3 mM), was implanted into the quinolinic acid-lesioned striatum. Compared to unlesioned normal animals, rats with striatal lesions showed substantial impairment in paw-reaching ability, particularly on the side contralateral to the lesion, as judged from the number of pellets retrieved by each paw. Intrastriatal grafts gave rise to a significant improvement in paw-reaching ability. The mean total number of surviving DARPP-32-positive cells in grafts without alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone treatment was estimated at 115 x 10(3), which did not significantly differ from that in alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone-treated grafts. The paw-reaching scores were significantly correlated with the volumes of P-zones and the number of DARPP-32-positive neurons, but with neither the volumes of NP-zones nor the total graft volume. The results suggest that P-zones in striatal grafts mediate graft-derived functional recovery in a complex task such as skilled forelimb use. Although the antioxidant treatment with alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone failed to promote graft survival, the positive correlation between the yield of DARPP-32-positive cells in the graft and the extent of the functional recovery highly warrants further attempts to increase the yield of the striatal component in the graft.

Phenotypic development of the human embryonic striatal primordium: a study of cultured and grafted neurons from the lateral and medial ganglionic eminences.

Basic parameters which are crucial for the survival of human embryonic striatal grafts need to be investigated before initiating clinical trials in Huntington's disease. In order to define the dissection of human striatal-donor tissue which gives rise to the largest amount of striatal neurons after intrastriatal transplantation, we studied the lateral and medial ganglionic eminences of embryonic striatal primordia obtained from human embryos sized 17-30 mm in crown-to-rump length (corresponding to Carnegie stages 18-23). Anatomical landmarks that demarcated the lateral and medial ganglionic eminences from each other were present only in embryos with 20 mm crown-to-rump length or larger. In monolayer cultures, the lateral ganglionic eminence gave rise to a six-fold higher yield of dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein 32-immunoreactive striatal neurons as compared to the medial ganglionic eminence. We also xenografted the lateral and medial ganglionic eminences from five embryos sized 21-30 mm in crown-to-rump length to the ibotenate lesioned striatum of immunosuppressed rats. The grafts were evaluated with respect to general morphology, survival and integration using (immuno-) histochemical stains for acetylcholinesterase/Cresyl Violet, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase, dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-32, tyrosine hydroxylase and calbindin-D28KD. As assessed 9-25 weeks after implantation, 13 out of 16 and 8 out of 13 grafts, in the groups grafted with the medial and lateral ganglionic eminences, respectively, had survived. Previous studies with rat donor tissue have indicated that the functional efficacy of striatal grafts is related to the development of striatal-specific P-zone regions and that these are enriched in transplants derived from the lateral as opposed to the medial ganglionic eminence. Also in the human striatal xenografts of the present study, P-zones appeared more abundant when the donor tissue was derived from the lateral ganglionic eminence. However, the proportion of graft tissue that expressed P-zone properties was always very low (at most 30%) and never approached the 80-90% previously observed in transplants of rat lateral ganglionic eminence. We conclude that the relative yield of striatal neurons in grafts of the human embryonic striatal primordium has to be improved before neural transplantation should be applied in patients with Huntington's disease.

Antioxidant treatment protects striatal neurons against excitotoxic insults.

It has been suggested that oxidative stress plays an important role in mediating excitotoxic neuronal death. We have therefore investigated the protective effects of antioxidants against excitotoxic injury in the rat on striatal neurons both in vitro and in vivo. In the first part of the study, we determined whether two different types of antioxidants, the spin trapping agent, alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone and an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, U-83836E, could protect cultured striatal neurons against either hypoglycemic injury or N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced excitotoxicity. Dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein, which is enriched in medium-sized spiny neurons, was chosen as a marker for striatal neurons. alpha-Phenyl-t-butyl nitrone and U-83836E both significantly reduced cell death induced by these insults as indicated by an increased number of surviving dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phospho-protein-positive neurons. The two antioxidants also promoted the survival of cultured striatal neurons grown at low cell density under serum-free culture conditions. In an in vivo experiment systemically administered alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone exerted neuroprotective effects in the rat striatum following injection of the excitotoxin quinolinic acid. Apomorphine-induced rotation tests revealed that alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone-treated animals were significantly less asymmetric in their motor behavior than control rats. Treatment with alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone significantly reduced the size of the quinolinic acid-induced striatal lesions, as assessed by the degree of sparing of dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phospho-protein-positive and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase-positive neurons, and of microtubule-associated protein-2-immunorective areas. Furthermore, lesion-induced morphological changes in the substantia nigra pars reticulate, i.e. loss of dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-positive afferent fibers and atrophic changes due to transsynaptic degeneration, were also less extensive in the alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone-treated animals. The results support the hypothesis that oxygen-free radicals contribute to excitotoxic neuronal injury. The in vivo cytoprotective effects of alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone against striatal excitotoxic lesions suggest that antioxidants could be used as potential neuroprotective agents in Huntington's disease, which has been suggested to involve excitotoxicity.

Intrastriatal grafts of embryonic mesencephalic rat neurons genetically modified using an adenovirus encoding human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase.

Intrastriatal grafting of embryonic dopamine-containing neurons is a promising approach for treating clinical and experimental Parkinson's disease. However, neuropathological analyses of grafted patients and transplanted rats have demonstrated that the survival of grafted dopamine neurons is relatively poor. In the present study, we pursued a strategy of transferring a potentially neuroprotective gene into rat embryonic mesencephalic rat cells in vitro, before grafting them into the denervated striatum of 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. We performed intrastriatal grafts of embryonic day 14 mesencephalic cells infected with replication-defective adenoviruses bearing either the human copper-zinc superoxide dismutase gene or, as a control, the E. coli lac Z marker gene. The transgenes were expressed in the grafts four days after transplantation and the expression persisted for at least five weeks thereafter. After five weeks postgrafting, there was more extensive functional recovery in the superoxide dismutase group as compared to the control (uninfected cells) and beta-galactosidase groups. The functional recovery was significantly correlated with the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells in the grafts, although the clear trend to increased survival of the dopamine neurons in the superoxide dismutase grafts did not reach statistical significance. Only a moderate inflammatory reaction was revealed by OX-42 immunostaining in all groups, suggesting that ex vivo gene transfer using adenoviral vectors is a promising method for delivering functional proteins into brain grafts.

No adverse effects of cyclosporin A on cellular and functional development of foetal rat dopaminergic mesencephalic neurones grafted into the 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson's disease.

This study investigated the potential neurotoxic effects of cyclosporin A (CyA) on allogeneic foetal rat ventral mesencephalic (VM) grafts in the 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson's disease. Despite its use in the clinical neural grafting situation, the safety of the CyA treatment concerning graft survival and function has not been demonstrated in systematical animal studies. Three groups of grafted rats were treated with either 10 or 20 mg/kg cylcosporin A daily for 6 weeks. Analysis of graft function and development within the different immunosuppression regimes showed no significant differences between any parameters assessed (rotational behaviour and graft survival). It is concluded that high doses of cyclosporin A do not adversely influence survival and function of rat-to-rat foetal allogeneic VM grafts.

Lazaroids improve the survival of cultured rat embryonic mesencephalic neurones.

We have studied the effects of two lazaroids, U-74389G and U-83836E, on the survival of cultured rat dopamine neurones. Lazaroids are inhibitors of free radical formation and lipid peroxidation. Dissociated embryonic mesencephalic neurones were cultivated for 2 or 7 days under serum-free conditions with or without the addition of 0.3 microM of one of the lazaroids. Both lazaroids enhanced the survival of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive, dopaminergic neurones both after 2 and 7 days in vitro to around 111-120% and 175-180% of controls, respectively. Since the total number of neurones was also increased following lazaroid treatment, it is unlikely that lazaroids exert their effects on only dopamine neurones. These findings suggest that oxidative stress plays an important role in the death of cultured embryonic dopamine neurones and that lazaroids may be potent neuroprotective agents in situations where dopaminergic neurones degenerate.

Effects of hibernation or cryopreservation on the survival and integration of striatal grafts placed in the ibotenate-lesioned rat caudate-putamen.

Tissue storage prior to intracerebral transplantation would represent a major advantage when conducting clinical transplantation trials in that the procurement of the embryonic donor tissue and the timing of neurosurgery could be planned more efficiently. In the present study, the effects of storing rat embryonic striatal tissue at either +4 degrees C or below freezing temperature prior to grafting to the adult striatum, were assessed with regard to transplant survival, morphology and integration. Eleven days following a unilateral injection of ibotenic acid into the head of the caudate-putamen, a control group of rats received grafts of striatal primordium prepared immediately after dissection from rat embryos (embryonic day 16). A second group of rat embryonic striatal tissue was stored at 4 degrees C (hibernation) for 5 days and then transplanted. A third group of the striatal donor tissue was cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen for 5 days before implantation surgery. Six to seven weeks following transplantation surgery, the grafts were analysed in brain sections processed for acetylcholinesterase histochemistry, DARPP-32 (dopamine and cyclic AMP regulated phosphoprotein with a molecular weight of 32 kDa) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunocytochemistry. The mean total graft volume and the relative size of the AChE-positive regions were not significantly different between the three groups. Striatal-specific graft regions, positively stained for AChE and DARPP-32, generally exhibited TH immunoreactivity, suggesting that they had received dopaminergic afferents from the host brain. We conclude that embryonic rat striatal tissue can be cryopreserved or hibernated over 5 days without significant impairment in the yield of striatal neurons following intrastriatal implantation and without markedly affecting transplant morphology.

Human embryonic dopamine neurons xenografted to the rat: effects of cryopreservation and varying regional source of donor cells on transplant survival, morphology and function.

When grafting human mesencephalic tissue to patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, the number of surviving dopamine (DA) neurons in the graft is probably crucial. It may be possible to increase the number of DA neurons available for grafting to a patient by pooling tissue from many human embryos collected over several days or by obtaining more DA neurons from each embryo. We have addressed these issues by cryopreserving human mesencephalic DA neurons prior to transplantation and also by grafting human embryonic diencephalic DA neurons. The effects of cryopreservation were assessed 4-15 weeks after xenografting ventral mesencephalic tissue into the DA-depleted striatum of immunosuppressed rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the mesostriatal pathway. Control rats grafted with fresh mesencephalic tissue displayed robust reductions in amphetamine-induced turning following transplantation. Functional effects of the cryopreserved mesencephalic grafts were only observed in the one rat out of nine which contained the largest graft in this group. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons in animals transplanted with cryopreserved tissue was significantly reduced to 9% of fresh tissue control grafts. Morphological analysis showed that cryopreserved DA neurons were approximately 22% and 28% smaller regarding the length of the long and short axis, respectively, when compared to the neurons found in fresh grafts. In the second part of the study, the survival and function of human embryonic diencephalic DA neurons were examined following xenografting into the DA-depleted rat striatum. A reduction of motor asymmetry was observed in two out of seven diencephalon-grafted rats. This finding was consistent with a good graft survival in these particular rats, which both contained large grafts rich in tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons. Moreover, there was immunopositive staining for graft-derived fibers in the rat striatum containing tyrosine hydroxylase and human neurofilament, both in rats grafted with mesencephalic and diencephalic DA neurons. These findings suggest that cryopreservation, using the current technique, is not a suitable storage method for use in clinical trials of DA neuron grafting in Parkinson's disease. On the other hand, the application of alternative sources of DA neurons may in the future develop into a strategy which can increase the number of neurons obtainable from each human embryo.

Methylprednisolone prevents rejection of intrastriatal grafts of xenogeneic embryonic neural tissue in adult rats.

We studied the effects of high-dose methylprednisolone on the survival of intrastriatal neural xenografts and the host responses against them. Dissociated mesencephalic tissue from inbred mouse (CBA-strain) embryos was transplanted to the intact striatum of adult Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats received either daily injections of methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg), or cyclosporin A (10 mg/kg), or no immunosuppressive treatment. Two or six weeks after transplantation, there was good survival of xenografts in both the methylprednisolone- and cyclosporin A-treated rats. In contrast, the xenografts in untreated control rats were all rejected by six weeks. There was no marked difference in the degree of expression of MHC class I and II antigens and the accumulation of activated astrocytes and microglial cells/macrophages between the three groups. However, both methylprednisolone and cyclosporin A reduced infiltration of T lymphocytes to the transplantation sites. The expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interferon-gamma, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6) in and around the grafts was lower in the methylprednisolone- and cyclosporin A-treated groups than in untreated control rats. Although high-dose methylprednisolone caused significant body weight loss, we conclude that this treatment can prevent rejection of intrastriatal grafts of xenogeneic embryonic neural tissue in the adult.

Microglia only weakly present glioma antigen to cytotoxic T cells.

Microglia and brain macrophages represent a substantial fraction of the cells present in astrocytic gliomas. Yet, the functional role of microglia in these tumors has remained enigmatic. We have compared rat microglial cells and thymocytes with regard to their ability to present purified CNS proteins, MBP and S100beta, as well as C6 glioma cells to specific T lymphocytes. In addition, a new cytotoxicity assay based on fluorescence activated cell sorting of tumor cells carrying the green fluorescent protein was established. This assay was used to determine the influence of microglial population density and activational state on C6 glioma cell survival in vitro. Microglia were consistently found to present MBP and S100beta less efficiently than thymocytes and appeared to be unable to present C6 glioma cells to cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In addition, high concentrations of microglial cells attenuated the cytotoxic effects of these T cells on C6 glioma cells whereas thymocytes significantly supported their specific killing. It is suggested that defense functions of microglial cells against C6 glioma are severely compromised and that the observed deficiency in antigen presentation may play an important role for astrocytoma growth in vivo.

The lazaroid U-83836E improves the survival of rat embryonic mesencephalic tissue stored at 4 degrees C and subsequently used for cultures or intracerebral transplantation.

We assessed the effects of addition of the lazaroid U-83836E to a preservation medium on the survival of rat dopamine neurons stored before culturing or intracerebral transplantation. Embryonic ventral mesencephalic tissue was preserved at 4 degrees C for 8 days with or without the addition of 0.3 mu M of U-83836E to a chemically defined "hibernation" medium. Freshly dissected mesencephalic tissue was used in control groups. For culture experiments, the mesencephalic tissue was dissociated and grown in serum-containing medium. Following 24-48 h in vitro, the number of dopamine neurons in cultures derived from tissue hibernated without the lazaroid was 40% of fresh control, compared with 67% of control in cultures prepared from tissue stored in the presence of U-83836E. When mesencephalic tissue was transplanted to the dopamine-depleted striatum of hemiparkinsonian rats following 8 days storage at 4 degrees C in a medium without U-83836E, the mean number of surviving dopamine neurons in the grafts was significantly reduced to 40% of control. In contrast, grafts of tissue which had been hibernated in U-83836E-containing medium contained as many dopamine neurons as transplants of freshly dissected tissue. High yields of surviving grafted dopamine neurons were correlated to a significantly faster onset of functional recovery of amphetamine-induced motor asymmetry. We conclude that the storage period for rat mesencephalic tissue can be prolonged up to 8 days when using lazaroid-supplemented hibernation medium. As lazaroids have undergone clinical safety testing, the application of lazaroids for tissue storage in clinical transplantation trials can be envisaged.

Mesencephalic neuron death induced by congeners of nitrogen monoxide is prevented by the lazaroid U-83836E.

We explored the effects of congeners of nitrogen monoxide (NO) on cultured mesencephalic neurons. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was used as a donor of NO, the congeners of which have been found to exert either neurotoxic or neuroprotective effects depending on the surrounding redox milieu. In contrast to a previous report that suggests that the nitrosonium ion (NO+) is neuroprotective to cultured cortical neurons, we found that the nitrosonium ion reduces the survival of cultured dopamine neurons to 32% of control. There was a trend for further impairment of dopamine neuron survival, to only 7% of untreated control, when the cultures were treated with SNP plus ascorbate, i.e. when the nitric oxide radical (NO.) had presumably been formed. We also evaluated the effects of an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, the lazaroid U-83836E, against SNP toxicity. U-83836E exerted marked neuroprotective effects in both insult models. More than twice as many dopamine neurons (75% of control) survived when the lazaroid was added to SNP-treated cultures and the survival was increased eight-fold (to 55% of control) when U-83836E was added to cultures treated with SNP plus ascorbate. We conclude that the congeners of NO released by SNP are toxic to mesencephalic neurons in vitro and that the lazaroid U-83836E significantly increases the survival of dopamine neurons in situations where congeners of NO are generated.

Cryopreservation, survival and function of intrastriatal fetal mesencephalic grafts in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

In the present study we quantitatively assessed to what extent freeze-storage at liquid nitrogen temperature influences the survival and function of fetal mesencephalic grafts in the dopamine-depleted rat striatum. Ventral mesencephalic (VM) tissue was dissected from rat fetuses and stored overnight in a preservative medium at 4 degrees C (hibernation). It was grafted intrastriatally either as a fresh cell suspension or was frozen as tissue fragments or as a cell suspension after stepwise incubation in ascending concentrations of dimethyl-sulphoxide. Following a cryopreservation interval of 80 days in liquid nitrogen, the frozen samples were rapidly thawed, rinsed, and grafted. Cellular viabilities of graft cell suspensions, as assessed by ethidium bromide/acridine orange staining, were decreased from 90% in fresh tissue to 38-35% in frozen and thawed tissue. Amphetamine-induced turning behavior at 6 weeks post-grafting was significantly attenuated in hosts that had received fresh grafts or grafts that were frozen as tissue fragments. Tyrosine hydroxylase-(TH-) immunocytochemistry of recipient brains revealed significant decreases in TH-positive graft cell numbers in rats grafted with cryopreserved tissue (38-42% of fresh tissue). Moreover, the dye exclusion viability of thawed VM tissue was found to accurately predict the subsequent graft survival. There was no difference with respect to graft cell numbers between the two freezing methods employed, though block storage seems to be more simple from a practical point of view.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Lazaroids improve the survival of grafted rat embryonic dopamine neurons.

In rodent models of Parkinson disease in which transplants of dissociated rodent and human embryonic mesencephalic tissue, rich in dopamine neurons, have been studied, only 5-20% of the dopamine neurons survive the implantation procedure. We have investigated the effects of inhibiting free radical generation with two lazaroids, U-74389G and U-83836E, on the survival of embryonic rat dopamine neurons. U-74389G is a 21-aminosteroid, and U-83836E combines the piperazinyl pyrimidine portion of 21-aminosteroids with the antioxidant ring of alpha-tocopherol. In an initial study, we found that the lazaroids markedly prolonged the period after tissue dissociation that an embryonic mesencephalic cell suspension exhibits high cell viability in vitro, as assessed by using a dye exclusion method. In a second series of experiments, addition of lazaroids to dissociated mesencephalic graft tissue increased the yield of surviving rat dopamine neurons 2.6-fold after implantation in the dopamine-denervated rat striatum. The improved survival correlated with an earlier onset of graft-induced functional effects in the amphetamine-induced rotation test. Thus, inhibition of free radical generation can significantly increase the yield of grafted embryonic dopamine neurons. Addition of lazaroids to the graft preparation is a relatively simple modification of the transplantation protocol and could readily be applied in a clinical setting. Moreover, since iron-dependent lipid peroxidation has been suggested to play a role in the death of nigral dopamine neurons in Parkinson disease and lazaroids are particularly potent inhibitors of such processes, the findings may have implications for the pathogenesis of this disease.

Lazaroid treatment prevents death of cultured rat embryonic mesencephalic neurons following glutathione depletion.

Reactive oxygen species are believed to play a crucial role in situations where dopamine neurons die, such as in Parkinson's disease or during intracerebral transplantation of embryonic mesencephalic tissue. The present study was designed to address the question whether, and to what extent, the glutathione redox system is important for the viability of rat embryonic dopamine neurons in vitro. Furthermore, we studied whether the lazaroid U-83836E, a 2-methylaminochroman that inhibits lipid peroxidation, affects the survival of cultured mesencephalic neurons subjected to experimentally induced glutathione depletion. Glutathione depletion was achieved by exposing dissociated mesencephalic cell cultures to L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis, at four different concentrations (1, 10,100, and 1,000 microM). Dopamine neuron survival was significantly reduced by 65-94% in a concentration-dependent manner by 10-1,000 microM BSO. The neurotoxic effects of BSO were almost completely prevented by supplementing the culture medium with 0.3 microM U-83836E. As assessed by HPLC analysis, BSO treatment was associated with a marked reduction of cellular glutathione content, and this depletion was not altered by the presence of U-83836E. We conclude that in the present insult model of severe glutathione depletion, the lazaroid can afford efficient neuroprotection that does not seem to be mediated by a direct interaction with BSO or glutathione, but rather via an independent pathway.