Endoplasmic reticulum stress induced autophagy in 6-OHDA-induced Parkinsonian rats

Both endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy involve in the pathological process of Parkinson's disease (PD). But the relationship between them is not clear in PD. A 6 - OHDA-induced parkinsonian rat is recognized as a standard model for many years, and it can be used in experimental study. The glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78) is a master regulator of ER stress, and the C/EBP homologous binding protein (CHOP) is an indicator of the UPR signaling. Besides, the Beclin-1 is also well known as a regulator of autophagy, and P62 is a specific marker to monitor autophagy. Therefore, we investigated the expressions of GRP78, CHOP, Beclin-1 and P62 in 6 - OHDA-induced parkinsonian rat. Unilateral 6 - OHDA injection into medial forebrain bundle was used except sham-operated rats. The rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: a sham-operated group; a model group; a 3-methyladenine (3-MA) group, administered 3-MA-autophagy inhibitor; a rapamycin group, administered rapamycin-autophagy inducer; a 4-phenylbutyric acids (4-PBA) group, administered 4-PBA-ER stress inhibitor; a tunicamycin (TM) group, administered TM-ER stress inducer. The results showed that the expressions of GRP78, CHOP and Beclin-1 increased, P62 decreased in model group; the expressions of GRP78 and CHOP were unchanged in 3-MA group and rapamycin group; but the expression of Beclin-1 decreased and P62 increased in 4-PBA group, while the expression of Beclin-1 increased and P62 decreased in TM group. These data suggest that ER stress and autophagy occurred in 6 - OHDA-induced parkinsonian rat, and ER stress might induce autophagy. The result is important for the pathological mechanism of PD.