Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2022, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (6): 1357-1363.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.327353

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Schwann cells differentiated from skin-derived precursors provide neuroprotection via autophagy inhibition in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease

Jia-Nan Yan1, 2, #, Hai-Ying Zhang1, 2, #, Jun-Rui Li3, Ying Chen1, 4, Yong-Cheng Jiang1, 2, Jia-Bing Shen1, 2, Kai-Fu Ke1, *, Xiao-Su Gu1, *   

  1. 1Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China; 2Research Center of Clinical Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China; 3Department of Clinical Medicine, The First Clinical Medical College of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China; 4Department of Neurology and Suzhou Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Afflicted Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Online:2022-06-15 Published:2021-12-17
  • Contact: Xiao-Su Gu, MD, Guxiaosu001@163.com; Kai-Fu Ke, MD, kekaifu_nt@126.com.
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by Technology Project of Nantong of China, Nos. JC2020052 (to XSG), JCZ19087 (to XSG); and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nos. 81873742 (to KFK), 81901195 (to JBS), 81502867 (to TX), 82073627 (to TX). 

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Abstract: Autophagy has been shown to play an important role in Parkinson’s disease. We hypothesized that skin-derived precursor cells exhibit neuroprotective effects in Parkinson’s disease through affecting autophagy. In this study, 6-hydroxydopamine-damaged SH-SY5Y cells were pretreated with a culture medium containing skin-derived precursors differentiated into Schwann cells (SKP-SCs). The results showed that the SKP-SC culture medium remarkably enhanced the activity of SH-SY5Y cells damaged by 6-hydroxydopamine, reduced excessive autophagy, increased tyrosine hydroxylase expression, reduced α-synuclein expression, reduced the autophagosome number, and activated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Autophagy activator rapamycin inhibited the effects of SKP-SCs, and autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine had the opposite effect. These findings confirm that SKP-SCs modulate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway to inhibit autophagy, thereby exhibiting a neuroprotective effect in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Laboratory Animal Center of Nantong University (approval No. S20181009-205) on October 9, 2018.

Key words: alpha-synuclein, autophagosomes, autophagy, neural regeneration, neuroprotection, Parkinson’s disease, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, skin-derived precursor Schwann cells

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