Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor supports survival of injured midbrain dopaminergic neurons

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Abstract
Glial cell‐lined derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been shown to promote survival of developing mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons in vitro. In order to determine if there is a positive effect of GDNF on injured adult midbrain dopaminergic neurons in situ, we have carried out experiments in which a single dose of GDNF was injected into the substantia nigra following a unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal system. Rats were unilaterally lesioned by a single stereotaxic injection of 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA; 9 μg/4 μl normal saline with 0.02% ascorbate) into the medial forebrain bundle and tested weekly for apomorphine‐induced (0.05 mg/kg s. c. ) contralateral rotation behavior, Rats that manifested >300 turns/hour received a nigral injection of 100 μg GDNF, or cytochrome C as a control, 4 weeks following the 6‐OHDA lesion, Rotation behavior was quantified weekly for 5 weeks after GDNF. Rats were subsequently anesthetized, transcardially perfused, and processed for tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry. It was found that 100 μg GDNF decreased apomorphine‐induced rotational behavior by more than 85%. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity was equally reduced in the striatum ipsilateral to the lesion in both cytochrome C and GDNF‐injected animals. In contrast, large increments in tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity were observed in the substantia nigra of animals treated with 100 μg of GDNF, with a significant increase in numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase‐immunoreactive cell bodies and neurites as well as a small increase in the cell body area of these neurons. The results suggest that GDNF can maintain the dopaminergic neuronal phenotype in a number of nigral neurons following a unilateral nigrostriatal lesion in the rat.