Dopamine uptake in the substantia nigra and striatum in the presymptomatic and early symptomatic stages in Parkinsonian mice.

摘要

The most important component in the develop ment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is degradation of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic (DAergic) system [1, 5]. The disease is asymptomatic for a long period, i.e., no disturbances of motor behavior are evident, which is explainable by switching on of the brain plasticity mechanisms directed at maintaining a normal level of DA as a key neurotransmitter involved in the regula tion of motor functions [10, 12]. One of the mecha nisms providing for regulation of DA intracellular level is its uptake after release from neurons and fulfilling its neurotransmitter function. DA is reuptaken by a high affinity DAergic transporter (DAT), a protein mole cule located in the membrane [4, 6]. A change in the DA uptake can be one of the reasons leading to mani festation of PD symptoms.