Rotenone is an inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I that produces a model of Parkinson's disease (PD), in which neurons undergo dopamine release dysfunction and other features. In neurons, exocytosis is one of the processes associated with dopamine release and is dependent on Ca(2+) dynamic changes of the cell. In the present study, we have investigated the exocytosis of dopamine and the involvement of Ca(2+) in dopamine release in PC12 cells administrated with rotenone. Results demonstrated that rotenone led to an elevation of intracellular Ca(2+) through Ca(2+) influx by opening of the voltage-gated Ca(2+) channel and influenced the soluble N-ethylmaleimide attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins expression (including syntaxin, vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP2) and synaptosome-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25)); pretreatment with a blocker of L-type voltage-activated Ca(2+) channels (nifedipine) decreased the intracellular dopamine levels and ROS formation, increased the cell viability and enhanced the neurite outgrowth and exocytosis of synaptic vesicles. These results indicated that the involvement of intracellular Ca(2+) was one of the factors resulting in suppression of dopamine release suppression in PC12 cells intoxicated with rotenone, which was associated with the rotenone-induced dopamine neurotoxicity.
Keywords: Ca2+; PC12 cells; dopamine release; neurotoxicity; rotenone.