A number of studies indicated that apoptosis, a specific type of programmed cell death, contributed to the loss of dopaminergic neurons during progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Previously, the authors of the present study demonstrated that apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons was mainly achieved via the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway, however, the precise molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The present study aimed to determine whether mitofusin-2 (MFN2), a mitochondrial protein, participated in the apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons in a cellular model of PD induced by rotenone. The present study demonstrated that the expression of MFN2 was relatively stable following treatment with rotenone. Lentiviral knockdown and overexpression experiments for the first time, to the best of the authors knowledge, revealed that MFN2 prevented rotenone-induced cell death by amelioration of apoptosis. These results revealed a protective role of MFN2 against apoptosis in an in vitro model of PD and may be used to establish MFN2 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of this disease.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease; SH-SY5Y cells; apoptosis; mitofusin-2; rotenone.