Establishment of dopaminergic neuron purification system in mice for the Parkinson’s disease study
Abstract Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic (DA) neurons. The key neuropathological hallmarks in the brain of patients with PD are Lewy body (LB) inclusions, consisting of misfolded α-synuclein proteins. Despite extensive efforts, the molecular link between LB inclusions and DA neurodegeneration remains elusive because of the lack of a suitable approach. Here, we aimed to establish a novel dopa-decarboxylase (Ddc) fluorescent reporter mouse model that allows the identification and collection of DA neurons using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Successful enrichment of Ddc-expressing cells was validated by RNA-sequencing analysis. This approach allowed us to analyze the effect of α-synuclein accumulation on the DA neuron’s transcriptome prior to neurodegeneration occurrence. We found that lipid-related process genes, followed by protein modification and degradation-related process genes, were upregulated in the α-synuclein-injected DA neurons. The activation of fatty acid-binding protein 1 (Fabp1) was particularly evident and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Thus, our mouse model system and datasets provide a new method and insights into molecular mechanisms in PD.