Cyclin dependent kinases (cdks) play an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple neurodegenerative diseases. To explore the possibility of cdks-related gene therapy for neurodegen-erative diseases, we packed recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) encoding cdc2-siRNA. The expressing plasmid pAAV-MCS-EGFP-U6-cdc2-siRNA was constructed by using molecular biological techniques. The rAAV encoding cdc2-siRNA (rAAV-EGFP-U6-cdc2-siRNA) was packed by calcium phosphate mediated co-transfection of the plasmid pAAV-MCS-EGFP-U6-cdc2-siRNA, p-RC and p-Helper into AAV-293 cells. DNA sequencing proved the successful construction of U6-cdc2-siRNA in pAAV-MCS-EGFP. Seventy-two h after packaging, the expression of EGFP could be detected in AAV-293 cells. Western blotting revealed that cdc2 gene expression in AAV-293 cells was down-regulated markedly after transfection with rAAV-EGFP-U6-cdc2-siRNA, which evidenced the satisfactory silencing effect of this virus. It was concluded that the packaging of rAAV encoding cdc2-siRNA was successful. rAAV encoding cdc2-siRNA could silence cdc2 gene effectively, which might offer a novel means for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
目的探讨细胞周期依赖性蛋白激酶抑制剂roscovitine对C型尼曼-皮克病(NPC)小鼠(npc-/-)球状神经轴突形成的影响。方法采用不同浓度的roscovitine(72,144,300 and 600nmoles/day)对5.5周龄的npc-/-小鼠进行两周侧脑室灌注,以DMSO灌注的同龄npc-/-小鼠为对照。抗非磷酸化神经细丝蛋白抗体SMI32和抗有丝分裂期磷酸化表位抗体MPM-2免疫染色检测小鼠脑内球状神经轴突的数量,Western blot检测细胞骨架蛋白磷酸化程度的变化。结果Roscovitine组球状神经轴突数量较DMSO组显著减少,神经细丝和tau蛋白的过度磷酸化程度较对照组明显下降(P<0.05)。结论细胞周期依赖性蛋白激酶抑制剂能明显改善NPC的神经元细胞骨架损害。
In order to investigate the neuroprotective effects of cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (cdk-5) inhibition in mice with Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) (npc-/-), recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) carrying the small interfering RNA (siRNA) specific for cdk-5 gene was injected into 3-day-old npc-/-mice intracerebroventricularly. The rAAV-GFP-injected age-matched npc-/-mice and non-surgery age-matched npc-/-mice were employed as controls (n=6―10/group). From the 4th to 8th week after the treatment, mice were weighed, and evaluated for limb motor activity by using the coat hanger test once a week. Eight-week-old npc-/-mice were sacrificed by decapitation, and brains were quickly dissected and halved sagittally. Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and HE staining were used to evaluate the neuropathology in npc-/-mice. The results showed that rAAV-cdk-5-siRNA-GFP significantly reduced the number of axonal spheroids, delayed the death of Purkinje neurons, ameliorated motor defects in npc-/-mice, and significantly attenuated the hyper-phosphorylation of tau proteins. These data suggested that inhibition of cdk-5 activity has neuropro-tective effect on neurons in NPC mice.
