α7-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor and Mutated α-Synuclein Interact in Motor Behaviour and Nigrostriatal Dopamine-Findings With Potential Relevance for a Protective Effect of Cigarette Smoking and Parkinson's Disease.

ABSTRACT: Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs less frequently in cigarette smokers than in nonsmokers. Assuming that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are periodically active by activation through endogenous acetylcholine, we tested whether they act against the effect of α-synuclein, a protein relevant in PD. Transgenic mice with a human α-synuclein containing two mutations that cause familial PD were crossed with mice lacking the nicotinic α7-acetylcholine receptor. Vertical movements determined at 7 and 16 months and nonambulatory movements at 16 months of age were significantly lower in mice with α7-acetylcholine receptor knockout if they express the mutated α-synuclein but not in mice with α-synuclein wild type. Striatal noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine levels did not differ between the four gr

SUBMITTER: Pifl C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11931489 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature