Lithium protects against methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells via Akt/GSK3β/mTOR pathway

Methamphetamine (MA) is neurotoxic, especially in dopaminergic neurons. Long-lasting exposure to MA causes psychosis and increases the risk of Parkinson's disease. Lithium (Li) is a known mood stabilizer and has neuroprotective effects. Previous studies suggest that MA exposure decreases the phosphorylation of Akt/GSK3 beta pathway in vivo, whereas Li facilitates the phosphorylation of Akt/GSK3 beta pathway. Moreover, GSK3 beta and mTOR are implicated in the locomotor sensitization induced by psychostimulants and mTOR plays a critical role in MA induced toxicity. However, the effect of MA on Alct/GSK3 beta/mTOR pathway has not been fully investigated in vitro. Here, we found that MA exposure significantly dephosphorylated Akt/GSK3 beta/mTOR pathway in PC12 cells. In addition, Li remarkably attenuated the dephosphorylation effect of MA exposure on Akt/GSK3 beta/mTOR pathway. Furthermore, Li showed obvious protective effects against MA toxicity and LY294002 (Akt inhibitor) suppressed the protective effects of Li. Together, MA exposure dephosphorylates Akt/GSK3 beta/mTOR pathway in vitro, while lithium protects against MA-induced neurotoxicity via phosphorylation of Akt/GSK3 beta/mTOR pathway. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.