Age-dependent alpha-synuclein accumulation is correlated with elevation of mitochondrial TRPC3 in the brains of monkeys and mice

摘要

Aberrant alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) accumulation has been shown to impair mitochondrial function by reducing mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels are a diverse group of non-selective Ca2+ channels, among which TRPC3 is the only one that is localized in mitochondria and plays a role in maintaining the normal MMP. This raises a possibility that altered TRPC3 expression may play a role in the mitochondrial dysfunction induced by alpha-syn accumulation. To demonstrate this possibility, we first examined the expressions of mitochondrial TRPC3 in the brains of aging monkeys and alpha-syn transgenic and wild-type mice. We showed that alpha-syn levels increased in mitochondria in an age-dependent manner that was positively correlated to an elevation of mitochondrial TRPC3. This correlation was more prominent in the striatum than in the cerebellum, possibly due to the greater age-dependent alpha-syn accumulation in the striatum than in the cerebellum. We then used primary neurons overexpressing alpha-syn to investigate the effect of the alpha-syn-induced elevation of mitochondrial TRPC3 on the MMP and apoptotic cell death. We found that neurons with overexpressed alpha-syn had increased mitochondrial TRPC3 and decreased MMP, which were accompanied by increased number of apoptotic neurons. Suppressing TRPC3 expression partially reversed the reduction of MMP and alleviated the apoptotic cell death, indicating that the mitochondrial TRPC3 may play a role in the mitochondrial dysfunction in neurons with alpha-syn accumulation that may occur in not only the aged brain but also the brain with PD.