PINK1 alleviates thermal hypersensitivity in a paclitaxel-induced Drosophila model of peripheral neuropathy

PLoS One. 2020 Sep 17;15(9):e0239126. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239126. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Paclitaxel is a representative anticancer drug that induces chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), a common side effect that limits many anticancer chemotherapies. Although PINK1, a key mediator of mitochondrial quality control, has been shown to protect neuronal cells from various toxic treatments, the role of PINK1 in CIPN has not been investigated. Here, we examined the effect of PINK1 expression on CIPN using a recently established paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy model in Drosophila larvae. We found that the class IV dendritic arborization (C4da) sensory neuron-specific expression of PINK1 significantly ameliorated the paclitaxel-induced thermal hyperalgesia phenotype. In contrast, knockdown of PINK1 resulted in an increase in thermal hypersensitivity, suggesting a critical role for PINK1 in sensory neuron-mediated thermal nociceptive sensitivity. Interestingly, analysis of the C4da neuron morphology suggests that PINK1 expression alleviates paclitaxel-induced thermal hypersensitivity by means other than preventing alterations in sensory dendrites in C4da neurons. We found that paclitaxel induces mitochondrial dysfunction in C4da neurons and that PINK1 expression suppressed the paclitaxel-induced increase in mitophagy in C4da neurons. These results suggest that PINK1 mitigates paclitaxel-induced sensory dendrite alterations and restores mitochondrial homeostasis in C4da neurons and that improvement in mitochondrial quality control could be a promising strategy for the treatment of CIPN.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / adverse effects*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Drosophila
  • Drosophila Proteins / genetics*
  • Gene Expression
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Hyperalgesia / chemically induced*
  • Hyperalgesia / genetics
  • Hyperalgesia / physiopathology
  • Hyperesthesia / chemically induced*
  • Hyperesthesia / genetics
  • Hyperesthesia / physiopathology
  • Paclitaxel / adverse effects*
  • Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / chemically induced*
  • Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / genetics
  • Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / physiopathology
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / genetics*
  • Sensory Receptor Cells / drug effects
  • Sensory Receptor Cells / metabolism
  • Sensory Receptor Cells / pathology

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
  • Drosophila Proteins
  • PINK1 protein, Drosophila
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • Paclitaxel

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korean government (2016R1A5A2007009 and 2019R1A2C2003991) to JY. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.