Chronic oxidative stress has been linked to the neurodegenerative changes characteristic of Parkinson's disease, particularly alpha-synuclein accumulation and aggregation. However, it remains contentious whether these alpha-synuclein changes are cytotoxic or neuroprotective. The current study utilised long-term primary neural culture techniques with antioxidant free media to study the cellular response to chronic oxidative stress. Cells maintained in antioxidant free media were exquisitely more vulnerable to acute exposure to hydrogen peroxide, yet exposure of up to 10 days in antioxidant free media did not lead to morphological alterations in neurones or glia. However, a subpopulation of neurones demonstrated a significant increase in the level of alpha-synuclein expressed within the cell body and at synaptic sites. This subset of neurones was also more resistant to apoptotic changes following exposure to antioxidant free media relative to other neurones. These data indicate that increased alpha-synuclein content is associated with neuroprotection from relatively low levels of oxidative stress.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Neurosciences
Research Field:	Neurology and neuromuscular diseases
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Clinical health
Objective Field:	Clinical health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Quilty, MC (Miss Marian Quilty)
UTAS Author:	King, AE (Professor Anna King)
UTAS Author:	Gai, WP (Dr Wei Gai)
UTAS Author:	West, AK (Professor Adrian West)
UTAS Author:	Vickers, JC (Professor James Vickers)
UTAS Author:	Dickson, TC (Professor Tracey Dickson)
ID Code:	48531
Year Published:	2006
Web of Science® Times Cited:	78
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2007-10-15
Last Modified:	2010-06-08
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