• Masatoshi Inden, Yoshihisa Kitamura, Kazunori Takahashi, Kazuyuki Takata, Natsuko Ito, Rina Niwa, Risa Funayama, Kaneyasu Nishimura, Takashi Taniguchi, Toshio Honda, Takahiro Taira, and Hiroyoshi Ariga.
• Department of Neurobiology, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Kyoto 607-8414, Japan.
• J. Pharmacol. Sci. 2011 Jan 1;117(3):189-203.

AbstractDJ-1, Parkinson's disease PARK7, acts as an oxidative stress sensor in neural cells. Recently, we identified the DJ-1 modulator UCP0054278 by in silico virtual screening. However, the effect of the peripheral administration of UCP0054278 on an in vivo Parkinson's disease (PD) model is unclear. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the effects of the peripheral administration of UCP0054278 on both 6-OHDA-microinjected rats and rotenone-treated mice as acute and chronic animal models of PD, respectively. The peripheral administration of UCP0054278 prevented 6-OHDA- and rotenone-induced dopaminergic neural cell death and restored the defect in locomotion in these models of PD. In addition, 6-OHDA- or rotenone-induced neural cell death and the production of reactive oxygen species were significantly inhibited by UCP0054278 in normal SH-SY5Y cells, but not in DJ-1-knockdown cells. These results suggest that UCP0054278 interacts with endogenous DJ-1 and then produces antioxidant and neuroprotective responses in both in vivo and in vitro models of PD. The present study raises the possibility that DJ-1 stimulatory modulators, such as UCP0054278, may be a new type of dopaminergic neuroprotective drug for the treatment of PD.

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