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Oxidative stress and androgens have a synergistic effect on dopamine cell viability
Author(s) -
Cunningham Rebecca L,
Singh Meharvan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.993.6
Subject(s) - oxidative stress , viability assay , dopamine , endocrinology , medicine , dopaminergic , neuroprotection , chemistry , androgen , testosterone (patch) , programmed cell death , cell , biology , biochemistry , hormone , apoptosis
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition associated with oxidative stress and dopamine neuronal loss in the nigrostriatal pathway. Aged men have a greater incidence of PD than women. While estrogens have been shown to play a neuroprotective role in PD, there is little information on androgens’ actions on dopamine neurons. In this study, we examined if androgens alter the effects of oxidative stress in a dopaminergic cell line (N27 cells). N27 cells were exposed to tert‐butyl‐hydrogen peroxide (500uM) 24hrs prior to androgen treatment (24hr). Our results show that hydrogen peroxide sensitized N27 cells to testosterone‐induced cell death, as indicated by a decrease in calcein fluorescence. Thus, the degree of oxidative burden influences the effects of androgens on cell viability. Interestingly, androgens did not alter cell viability when cells were concurrently exposed to hydrogen peroxide and testosterone. Thus suggesting increased oxidative stress, as associated with aging, is an integral component of androgens’ effects on dopaminergic cell viability. These results indicate that basal oxidative stress levels modulate the influence of androgens on dopamine neuronal viability. Supported in part by NIH grants F32NS061417‐01 to RLC and AG022550 and AG027956 to MS.